Spend a Little; Save a Lot

Another coupon post! Get excited! Okay, pep rally over.... down to business.

Economics might well be one of the most boring subjects in college, but you need to understand the basics of it to save the most money. One axiom of economics is that you have to spend money to make money. This is usually applied to things like start-up costs for business or advertising or whatever, but the same principle holds true at the couponing level! Sometimes you have to have a little out of pocket costs in order to access great coupon savings.

The most obvious cost to a couponer is the Sunday paper - here in Tulsa it costs $2, but you are gaining a lot of savings from the coupons. But... that is not the only place to buy coupons! Here are some other great sources for coupons - check 'em out - they will totally help your bottom line!

Coupon Sources
1. All You magazine - this is a magazine that is sold exclusively at Wal-Mart, but you can also get a subscription to it (there are lots of deals out there for subscriptions - leave me a comment if you are interested). The newsstand price is $2.25, but it is full of high value ($1 and above) coupons on products, and their expiration dates tend to be further off than your average newspaper coupons, so you have a greater chance of being able to score an awesome deal when the item goes on sale.

2. eBay - Did you know you can buy coupons on eBay? (OK - technically, for legal reasons, they can't sell coupons per se, but they charge you for the time & effort it takes to find & clip the coupons. A loophole, maybe, but it works). There are essentially two categories of coupons on eBay - the first is big assortments of coupons, generally from the newspaper. This is a great way to get up to speed fast if you are new to couponing - for a couple of bucks, you can buy 100+ coupons and jump right in to saving (as always with eBay, check the shipping costs to be sure that you aren't overpaying). Will there be coupons in these assortments that you have absolutely no use for? Yes, but you'll find lots that you can use - you'll make your money back several times over.

The second category of coupons is multiples for the same product. This is an EXCELLENT way to get lots of coupons for products that you use a lot. For example, I've recently discovered that my husband (who will eat NOTHING healthy) really likes the Kashi frozen waffles. I know it's not as good as fresh fruits or veggies, but compared to the junk my husband used to eat for breakfast??? Vast improvement, people. I'm all about the baby steps. Anyway, these waffles are a good bit pricier than regular old Eggos, so I went to eBay to see if any coupons were available. Jackpot! I bought 2 lots of $1.50 off coupons, spent $4.90 all together, and ended up with over $30 worth of Kashi waffle coupons.

The beauty of eBay is that is gives you access to coupons you could never get in your local area, even if you bought up every Sunday paper in sight or did some serious dumpster diving. For reasons that I don't completely understand, coupons are different from region to region [or even city to city - Oklahoma City's newspaper, The Daily Oklahoman, has different (usually better) coupons than the Tulsa paper]. I recently purchased 15 50 cent offcoupons for my personal crack, Herdez salsa - I paid $1.50 for the coupons. Those coupons never even ran in the Tulsa area, so I bought them off of someone in California. I scored major deals on these jars of salsa, too, because Wal-Mart just started carrying them here, and they had them on roll back for $1.59 - I had been paying $2.39 at the only other store near me that carried them. With the coupons, they were $1.09 (plus the additional 10 cents per coupon- what I paid for them on eBay). That gave me a bottom line of $1.19 per jar, half off what I normally paid. Not to mention the joy I feel when I look in the pantry & see all those jars of yummy salsa.

3. Internet coupon clipping services - aside from eBay, there are other sites dedicated to coupons, the main one being The Coupon Clippers, here: http://www.thecouponclippers.com/coupons/home.php
If you poke around this site, you'll see that this is a family that looks like the Duggars, with only slightly fewer kids, but they make extra cash by selling coupons. You can shop for the specific coupons you want just like you would any other online store - just be aware that they do require a minimum purchase.

It seems a little weird to pay for coupons, but it is a great way to save you both time and money! Happy hunting - for deals AND for coupons. And Happy 4th of July!

Stained Glass Jell-o

My awesome friend La requested a while back that I include some crafts in my blog. Well. I have a half-finished latch hook rug from 1978 lying around here somewhere as a testament to what a non-crafty person I am, so, as much as I love Laura, I didn't really think I'd ever do it. HOWEVER... I think everyone on the planet (plus a few on Mars) now knows that I am into couponing. As a result of this, I have been snapping up boxes of Jell-o for super cheap, but I soon realized that plain old Jell-o wasn't cutting it, and I needed to find a way to jazz it up. I went searching for recipes, and.... SHAZAM! I found a cool, kid-friendly craft that is edible and aesthetically pleasing, so I think just about everybody can get behind it.

I mean, look at it!! It's gorgeous, right?

Here's how you make it:

STAINED GLASS JELL-O

4 small boxes of jello, different colors

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

Dissolve each box of jello separately, into one cup of hot water. Pour into individual containers (small tupperware works well) and chill overnight.

Ready a 9×13 pan. Cut flavors of jello into small blocks. Mix together carefully in pan.

In a separate bowl, dissolve 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add dissolved gelatin to 1 3/4 cup hot water and condensed milk. Cool.

Pour cooled milk mixture over jello and chill overnight.

That's it! Totally easy! And the crafty possibilities are endless. You could use cookie cutters to make fun shapes with it. You could choose your Jell-o colors to create themes - Red & blue for the 4th of July! Pink & purple for a princess tea party! Green & red for Christmas! If you are a big ol' nerd like me, you could use the whole process as an educational experience for your kids! Teach them the science behind gelatin! Explain stained glass vis-a-vis the Catholic church and the importance of Martin Luther & the Reformation! Seriously, what couldn't you do with Stained Glass Jell-o?

I've realized that maybe I AM a crafty person. Next project - expired coupon paper mache!

The Baseline

Baseline - a specific value or values that can serve as a comparison or control

I've been able to get some incredible deals since I started couponing, but let's face it: if you get a bottle of salad dressing for free, or a box of cereal for 30 cents, you don't need Suze Orman to tell you that you are doing well. Coupon deals like that are an awesome little rush, but you can't get them all the time, particularly for items that are at a higher price point. So you have to figure out how to maximize your savings on all your everyday purchases, even when the stars don't align for you to get them for pennies.

Here's what the Coupon Gurus out there tell you to do: make a list of the 20 or so items that you purchase regularly. Visit all your local stores every week for 12 weeks and record their prices. Track each store's sale cycles (which are pretty constant - if you pay attention, you can know way in advance which weeks Hot Pockets are going to be on sale). Buy your items at the low point in the price cycle (and use your coupons, natch).

I'm sure this is awesome advice, but here's the deal: I have a 4 month old. If you think I'm schlepping him out to every store every week for the next 3 months to record prices in my little notebook, you have another think coming. I had to figure out a way to know when I was getting a good deal that wasn't so labor intensive. So here's what I do - I try to determine what I call the baseline - the price per unit cost that I am looking for in order to know whether to skip the item, buy the item, or stock up on the item. This is vital because with items that are sold in various sizes, it can be confusing to figure out which sizes are the best deal, so instead of just looking at the price, pay attention to the per unit cost. Example of units might be rolls of toilet paper, loads of laundry detergent, tampons, slices of cheese, packets of oatmeal, etc.

Here's an example that is super relevant to me right now - diapers! A size 1 jumbo pack of Pampers Swaddlers has 44 diapers and retails for $10.99 for a 25 cent per diaper unit cost. A mega pack has 66 diapers and retails for $15.99 for a 24 cent per diaper unit cost. A value pack has 216 diapers and retails for $45.99 for a 21 cent per diaper unit cost. Since those are regular retail prices, I know that my goal is to beat 21 cents each - that's my baseline. Figuring from that, I can guesstimate that 18-20 cents a diaper is a good deal worth buying, and anything 17 cents or less is a deal I'll want to try to stock up on.

Now, are you paying attention? Because something interesting happens when you add coupons to this equation. Let's say I have a $3 off coupon for Pampers. If I use that coupon on the big value pack, I've lowered my cost per diaper to 20 cents. If I use it on the medium sized mega pack, my cost becomes 19 cents a diaper. But, if I use it on the smallest pack - the jumbo - my cost per diaper drops to 18 cents!! The best deal! Also, stores are more likely to have sales on smaller items, too, so that multiplies your savings. Let's say Target put their jumbos on sale for $9.99 (which they do, all the time), AND I have the coupon - all of a sudden I am paying less than 16 cents per diaper! What started as the most expensive way to buy diapers has turned into Stock Up City!

This illustrates another component of coupon logic - usually, coupons have the biggest savings impact on SMALLER sized items. In shopping, we are trained to think that bigger = cheaper, and if you are paying retail, that is normally true. But it doesn't take much for that to be turned upside down when you are taking a dollar or so off of the price.

Figure out your baseline on all your faves, and buy smart. The Schoolhouse Rock people were right - knowledge IS power.

Life isn't perfect, so there's Walgreens

I've mainly focused on my grocery store savings, but you can really score some AWESOME deals at drugstores, too. They tend to have different kinds of deals than grocery stores, so today I'll explain how to maximize your dollars at Walgreens. I know people are reading this from all over - if you live near a CVS or an Eckerd or a Rite Aid, they all have similar types of programs, but since we don't have those in Tulsa, I don't know the deets. Actually, that leads me to a major coupon savings tenet I haven't discussed yet: know each store's policy on coupons. You'd be amazed at how different they are (here's a hint - WalMart stinks), and some of them allow things you'd think would never be allowed.

Which brings me to Walgreens. First off, Walgreens has some pretty great sales every week (and their weekly circulars are available online on their website), so it is easy to score some deals by following couponing policy 101. For instance, this week they have Chinet paper plates on sale 2 for $3 (they are normally $1.99 each). By combining that sale with 2 $1 off coupons, I got 2 packs of Chinet plates for $1 - 50 cents each! This will allow me to look good on the 4th of July when Eddie's family comes over for a cookout - I get to whip out the "fancy" paper plates, and I won't have to do dishes when it's all over. Since looking good & not doing the dishes are two of my favorite activities, I especially loved this Walgreens deal.

But it gets better! Walgreens is famous for doing B1G1 sales [pop quiz! Remember what that stands for? "Buy one, get one free"]. But even with these B1G1s, they still allow you to use two coupons on the items! Crazy good deal! Example: last week, Wags had the big 8 ounce tubes of Banana Boat sunblocks B1G1. They cost $9.99, so getting one free is a pretty good deal from the start. But, I had two $2 off coupons! So I got two giant tubes of sunblock (one was the kind for babies) for $5.99. Keep an eye out for the B1G1s, because the bottom line with these deals is that you get one item free, and the other one double-couponed.

Okay, are you ready for your Walgreens PhD now? Wags has a program called Register Rewards. How it works is that when you buy certain items, you'll get a coupon (a CAT, specifically) that can be used like cash at your next visit to Walgreens. These items are clearly identified in their weekly circular, so you know what you are looking for. I personally like to use the Register Rewards [RR] for stuff I was going to buy anyway - that way I can get that stuff plus whatever my original purchase was for free. Here's my illustration: early last week I bought some Colgate that was on sale, and I got a $1.50 Register Reward for it. I went back later & bought a birthday card for my friend with my RR. Register Rewards make sense for Wags, because it gets you in the habit of coming back to store - obviously something they want to encourage. But if you are a smart shopper, they can make money sense for you, too.

Now that I've outlined all the good deals at Walgreens, I finally get to tell you about the Triple Crown of couponing that I achieved at Wags yesterday. I was able to use ALL THREE of the concepts I've just discussed to score the Holy Grail of couponing - an overage! Here's how I did it: Walgreens had 45 count Ecotrin aspirin tablets on sale for $2 (good sale). I had an Ecotrin coupon for $2 off (good coupon), making the aspirin free. BUT.... I also got a $2 Register Reward for my next trip! A $2 overage on that purchase! Do I use Ecotrin? No, I do not. But my mother-in-law does, so I get the added bonus of helping her out with my bargain hunting.

Wags is fast becoming my favorite place to shop - let me know what kind of great deals you find there!

The Glossary

Does the following sentence make sense to you?
"I went to Wags yesterday to take advantage of their bogos with my IPs and MNF Qs. But at the checkout, the RR CAT machine didn't work. I thought I was being BBed, but the cashier figured it all out, so my OOP was only $1.24 for five items!"

I recommended in my last post that you can save yourself a ton of time & energy if you find a couponing network out there that finds the good deals for you. But they definitely speak their own language, so in order to take advantage of all their knowledge, you have to know what they are saying. Here are some commonly used abbreviations or words:

Q = coupon "I've got my Qs clipped and I'm ready to hit the grocery store!"
Bogo [or B1G1] = buy one, get one free "Target is having a bogo on Colgate toothpaste this week. Gotta stock up!"
CAT [or CRT] = a Catalina tape or cashier register tape. Occasionally, stores will give you a separate receipt that features store coupons; they usually bear some relation to what you've just purchased. Slightly Big Brotherish, but still can be good deals. "After I bought some strawberries at Reasor's, the checkout girl handed me a CAT for Cool Whip. I'll have to remember to use it next time!"
IP [or printable] = coupons that are printable directly off the internet. "I love all the IPs I'm finding, but I'll have to buy a new ink cartridge for my printer soon."
MQ [or MNF] = manufacturer's coupon. These are the more traditional kind, usually found in the newspaper or in-store displays. "Lots of great MQs in the Tulsa World this week."
RP/SS/P&G = Red Plum, SuperSaver, Proctor & Gamble - major companies that sponsor coupon inserts in the Sunday paper. "Everybody, check your RP for May 3rd, they had a Q for Gatorade & it's on sale at Food Pyramid this week!"
Wags = Walgreens "Most people don't realize that some of the best deals in town are at Wags."
RR = Register Rewards, a specific shopping reward program offered at Walgreens. When you buy certain products, you'll get a CAT at checkout that can be spent like cash on your next trip to Wags. "I got a $4 RR at Wags this week; I'll use it next week to buy some school supplies for the kids." [NOTE: I'll cover the glories of the RRs in my next post.]
OOP = out of pocket expense "I had $6.50 OOP at Wags this week, but I got a $5 RR, so my net was only $1.50"
MIR = mail in rebate "Don't forget to count the cost of postage when you are figuring out your total savings on a MIR."
BB = bargain blocked. Happens when you have trouble getting the deals you had planned on because of a technical difficulty (I got BBed when my IPs didn't scan at the register), a store policy (Wal Mart will not accept IPs - those BBers!), or a human obstacle (the checker didn't want to run 25 Qs in one transaction, so that BBer made me get back in line to use them all).

There are others, but with these terms, you should be able to figure out 90% of the talk on couponing forums.

COUP 101: Philosophy & Practice

In order to save lots of money, you have to have some knowledge about the underlying philosophy of how couponing works. So today I'll do my best to explain coupon logic - you really have to shop & think differently for this to be successful. To illustrate, I'll talk about how I used to coupon when I gave it stab a while back, and explain all the mistakes I made.

Couponing Angie, circa May, 2001: I would get the Sunday paper and look through the weekly coupons. I find a coupon for Nestle chocolate chips that expires in August - I decide not to clip that one, since I won't need those chocolate chips until I start my big holiday baking in November. I find a coupon for Dannon yogurt - I decide not to clip that one because Yoplait is my favorite. After I clip the coupons for my fave brands that I have an immediate need for, I head off to my usual local grocery store. If I'm lucky, I have saved enough money to recoup the cost of the Sunday paper.

It's not surprising that I did not keep this up, because there were weeks where I didn't have any savings at all, and clipping coupons was stealing time that I could use for a nice Sunday nap. No bueno! Here's what I was doing wrong:

Mistake #1: I was only looking in the Sunday paper for coupons. Yes, there are great ones there, but I could have had lots more coupons if I had checked the Internet and opened my eyes to see the coupons that are all over the place - in magazines, weekly circulars, in-store displays, stuck inside many products (or on an inside box flap), even occasionally on a peel off sticker on the product itself. To maximize your savings, you have to use ALL the resources that are out there.

Mistake #2: I was focused on my grocery list for that week, instead of thinking big picture. The hard-core couponers call this "stockpiling." If you find a great deal, you have to snag it, even if you don't have an immediate need for what you're buying. Of course, this means that you have to carve out some space in your house to store what you don't need right now. It feels a little counter-intuitive to spend money on something that you don't need right then, but think of it like airline tickets - if you wait 'til the day before you fly, you'll end up paying WAY more for a ticket than if you plan ahead and book early. Don't wait until you need something - buy early & save!

Mistake #3: I was too brand loyal. Yes, everyone has certain products that they think are just superior to other brands (I'm that way with peanut butter - Jif for the win!!!). And that's fine - you will just have to REALLY stock up when you find a deal on your favorites. But most of the time, there is not THAT big of a difference between different brands. So, be a smart shopper & shop for the best deals, not for particular brands.

Mistake #4: I only shopped at one store. I mentioned in my last blog post that the key to saving tons was to match your coupons with in store sales. That means one week the best deals will be at Reasor's. The next week, the best deals will be at the SuperTarget, and on & on. In order to figure out where to shop that week, you have to know where the sales are. The good news is that all of this information is available on the net, so you can find it very easily - just go to the main webpage for Target, WalMart, Reasor's, etc. and click on the link for weekly ads. OR, for an even easier way to figure this out, harness the mighty power of the couponing network out there! They will do the work for you! If you are in the Tulsa area, click the link for the 918 Coupon Queen blog on the right of this page. Every week she posts the sales at each major Tulsa area stores combined with coupons that are out there. AWESOME! [A note about this: this can be overwhelming & confusing at first. They use a LOT of lingo and abbreviations that outsiders don't know. But never fear! I'll post later this week to try to decipher it all for you!].

This might sound like a lot, and honestly, there is a learning curve here. You won't do it perfectly at first, but for the money you'll save, it's worth it to jump in & start.

My First Couponing Adventure

I have recently realized that I need to start seriously thinking about how to pare down our expenses. In the short term, we are trying to save enough $$$ to be able to buy a truck for Eddie debt-free. In the long term, we are realizing that if we have kid #2, we'd be pretty close to that tipping point where the cost of day care for two kids would take up so much of my paycheck that it would not make much financial sense for me to continue to work, especially considering the non-monetary benefits of being a stay-at-home mom. So, I turned to couponing. By request (thanks, Christy!), I am writing about what I'm learning & how its going.

First off, I have to send a shout-out to Al Gore for inventing the internet, because it is a great way to get coupons & save money. You can still do the old tried & true coupon clipping out of the Sunday paper, but there are also really good Internet coupons. I used them almost exclusively this week (only one wasn't a 'net find - I stumbled across it in a magazine I was reading). Here is the site I used, but there are others if you Google : http://www.afullcup.com

It appears that I picked the best week ever to get serious about this, since there were a TON of great coupons & sales available (Memorial Day weekend, maybe? If I figure out the rhythms of this, I'll let you know). Whatever the reason, it was a good time to learn lesson #1 of couponing - always combine coupons with in-store sales to maximize your savings. An example: let's say I have a coupon for $1 off salad dressing. If the regular store price is $2.59, I can use my coupon & pay $1.59 - a good deal (39% off original price). BUT, if the item is on sale for $2.19 and I use my coupon & pay $1.19, I've gotten a great deal (55% off original price). Here's where it gets good - if I have a $1 coupon, and the item is on sale AND I shop at a store that doubles coupons, I can get that salad dressing for 19 cents - an AWESOME deal (93% off original price).

So, does it work? Here's what I purchased this week:
3 boxes of Jello
2 18 oz. bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce
4 16 oz. bottles of Kraft salad dressing
2 1 lb. jars of Planters dry roasted peanuts
1 14.5 oz. box Ronzoni whole wheat spaghetti
1 8 oz. bag Ritz Toasted Chips
2 Hillshire Farms Deli Select sandwiches
6 12 pkgs. Kraft American cheese singles
2 8 oz. bags Kraft shredded cheese
2 8 oz. bricks Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese
2 boxes Cheez-It 100 calorie snacks (6 bags per box)
1 Hershey Bliss candy bar
2 boxes Kraft Deluxe mac n cheese
2 boxes of Bagelfuls (mmm... Bagelfuls!)
1 box Premium saltine crackers
1 box Ritz crackers
1 32 oz. jar Kraft mayo
1 32 oz. jar Miracle Whip (gross - giving to my mother-in-law)
2 containers of Cool Whip
1 bag Baked Lays
1 4-pack of Dole tropical fruit cups (this was my non-net coupon)
2 pkgs Oscar Meyer all-beef hot dogs
2 40 count canisters of Wet Ones anti-bacterial wipes
1 box of Blue Bunny root beer float ice cream bars
1 box of Blue Bunny strawberry yogurt ice cream bars

Total value of groceries: $165
Total amount I paid (including tax): $43
Percentage savings: 74 freaking percent!!!!! It works, people! [and, I'll admit - I even screwed up a couple of times! I could have saved about $3.50 more!!!]

Obviously, there is lots more to say about this, but I'll post again soon. But I am already so excited about this I can hardly stand it!

LOST

Okay, it would be impossible for me to have a blog without talking about a television show or two. I'm kinda addicted. Anyway, since Lost wrapped up the season last week, I have been reflecting on how that show in particular has been kind of a defining thing for me in the same way M*A*S*H or Buffy the Vampire Slayer have been for others.

First off, I should qualify that I am not a super-fan that sits around theorizing and analyzing screencaps and stuff. And, honestly, there have been times when I haven't even LIKED the show. From the very first episode, I have had something of a love/hate relationship with it - yes, that first show was awesome and creepy and mysterious. But it also featured, complete with shaky camerawork, a group of people going through a plane crash, which totally gave me the sweats and shakes - I had gone through a bad car accident the year before and that scene brought on a bout of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

But the show featured people who had lost their way, and that is exactly where I was at the time. I was working on a PhD but I had become totally disillusioned with the process - I was doing crazy amounts of work to try to establish myself in a career I no longer wanted (work 70 hour weeks at a university with a "publish or perish" mentality? spend my days running statistics with complicated software programs? didn't I get into the field of communication because I, you know, enjoyed communicating with people?). I had also recently gone through a horrible, painful break-up, and I was trying to move forward with my life while secretly terrified that my last chance was gone and I was going to end up a spinster type, crocheting and doing crosswords and DYING ALONE. So maybe you can see why the journey of these messed up people who got thrown into a situation they couldn't see their way out of resonated with me. Their one step forward, two steps back story exactly mirrored mine.

But fortunately, life got a lot better for me. I got my dream job - back at my old alma mater, Oral Roberts University. Despite its flaws, it is a school that understands that the most important job of higher ed is to teach students, and I love being in an environment that honors teaching, not just publications. I have great students and great co-workers, and I just generally like going to work, which I know is a rare and precious thing. After a few more mis-steps, I found a great, funny, sweet guy who loves me as much as I love him. And I married him. And we had a kid. So, yeah, that turned out really well for me. And each week, when I watch Lost, I see characters that are getting closer and closer to finding what I have. I want desperately for them to succeed; to get to the place that I have.

And, aside from all my metaphorical musings, Lost gave me the single best experience I have had in my life as a television viewer. And it came because I broke the rules, which seems fitting. Two years ago, a day before the season finale, I was surfing the net before I got ready to go to bed, and for some reason, I clicked on a link that spoiled the big ending - the flash-forward revelation that Jack & Kate had made it back. I couldn't BELIEVE it! I literally could not fall asleep that night - my brain was all racing with what it meant and how it could happen and where would the story go next. I've had that level of excitement and happiness with books before, but never with a TV show. It was kinda great.

So, LOST - this is my tribute to you.

Might have to change the syllabus...

One of the classes I teach is Interpersonal Communication, and one of the topics we discuss in that class is social identity - basically how we learn what it means to be human, moral, polite, a boy/girl, etc., and what effect that knowledge has on our relationships [but you already knew I was a communication geek from my blog title]. Anyway, the prevalent thought among the theorists is that we don't inherently possess any of this knowledge - our early caregivers socialize us to think & behave certain ways that are deemed normal in our society.

Well, the theorists are full of it. After watching my son grow & develop, I can find a million problems with this accepted wisdom. For instance, I have very careful avoided any kind of gender socialization with JT (one exception: I do dress him in "boy" colors). But I haven't tried to stick a baseball in his little hand, or decorated his room with Bob the Builder or anything. All of his toys are educational and gender-neutral. BUT YET... I have a book that teaches kids their numbers. On each page there are different items for each number. Here is a list of things that my son stares at with no reaction (or even looks away):
fish
ballerinas
sand castles
paintbrushes
starfish
seashells
snakes
pies

Here is a list of things that make his eyes light up, his arms flail excitedly and starts a stream of happy babbling:
a firetruck
cars

Where did that come from??? Why does his exhibit such a strong early preference for cars? We certainly didn't teach that to him. And does he somehow know that cars are "boy" things? It makes you wonder....

Hip Summertime Mom

So, one of the perks of my job is that I don't have to do it for 3 months and I still get a paycheck. Sick, right? Anyway, I have been spending most of the past few weeks visualizing what my first summer of momhood would look like, and I have a very clear picture of what hip summertime Angie will do. Here's my list:
1. Start a blog (hey, done! Go me.)
2. Spend quality time everyday with my son, focusing on his spiritual and intellectual development. [And shop for cute baby clothes online.]
3. Zip around neighborhood with adorable baby in stroller; lose all the baby weight.
4. Become a regular patron of the Farmer's Market and develop relationships with the vendors there, so I can drop references to "my produce lady" or "my cheese man" in casual conversation. And buy yummy, fresh food.
5. Prepare that yummy fresh food into healthful meals for my family. [Here is where my visualization gets a little fuzzy, since my husband would not eat a vegetable on a bet. But I'm sure once he's confronted with the yummy freshness of Farmer's Market produce, he'll give in, right?]
6. Host various cookouts, game nights and one killer bridal shower that provide friends and family with warm memories of our times together.
7. Spend time cultivating all my flowers in the landscaping beds. Maybe plant more along the side of the house. Maybe. Possibly.
8. Start researching business plans for awesome organic baby food small business I will launch soon.
9. Get a tan.

We'll see how this goes.