Adventures: Smoke Alarms in the Middle of the Night

That's right - Smoke alarms blaring at 3 am in the morning.  Talk about a shock!  First thing you think of is "Why are they going off?" - which was exactly the question hubby said out loud. 

First thing I did was grab the dog leashes & put them on the pups.  BTW - Esa was at the back door ready to get out of there.  Zed was still in bed - he came running down maybe about 20 seconds after I did.

We both ran around trying to figure out if there really was a fire.  We didn't think there was because there was no reason for a fire - we keep everything unplugged if we are not using it and there wasn't a storm/lightening that might have caused it.

Then Dan did something out of habit - he pulled the smoke alarm by the kitchen.  We have ALWAYS had issues with that smoke alarm.  The builder install smoke alarm was ALWAYS going off - it was just too sensitive.  About a year or so ago, we installed a "kitchen" smoke alarm and it seemed to fix the problem.

After a couple more screeching beeps, it stopped.  Obviously, it had to be that right?  (Timeline for all of this action - 10-15 minutes.  Seriously.)  Then we sat there wondering, should we call the fire department? (Timeline - another 10-15 minutes)

The alarms never went off again, so we assume that was the issue.  The alarms would have gone off again if there really was a fire.

Which comes to one of projects I have been meaning to do FOREVER.  A control log.  I've been trying to find templates on Pinterest, but they are mostly for cleaning and a family schedule.  I want something I would grab in case of an emergency or just so hubby knows what is what (especially since I oversee the finances & such).  I have a book that lists a lot (mostly for estate planning) called All Together Now that helps with what I'm looking to include in the control log.

The next question - what to grab if there is a fire.  That went running through my mind too last night.  I have 2 hard drives that have all my digital pictures on it & another that has all of our files on it (ie taxes, scanned old bills, etc.).  This list would also be something that would be in the control log.

Insurance companies say to have a house inventory.  There's something that goes through your mind - would you be able to list EVERYTHING in your house for proper reimbursement from your insurance company?

Next question - emergency guides say to have a security deposit box.  Need that too & decide what to put in it.  I know one item that needs to be in it and is biggest item that we have been talking about and been putting off - a will and estate planning items.

So - those 30 minutes last night all of these items/projects were running through my mind.  One of my biggest fears is losing everything. Not that I'm materialistic - I think it's just that I want to be in control and make the decision of what I get rid of and what I don't. 

OK - maybe it has something with losing my parents when I was 20 & my life was turned upside down.  It may also have something to do with the generation.  At one of my previous employers division meeting, we had a marketing session that talked about the different generations and I remember - "OMG - that describes me to a T!"  Of course I can't find this information now, but I remember it had something to do with the cold war and the threat of being bombed at any time.  I can remember having bomb drills in school.

Anyway - future Housewife Tour projects:

• control log
• house inventory
• set up a security deposit box
• get the "estate" in order

Book Review & Giveaway! "If I Should Die Before My Dog"

My Review:





I first heard about “If I Should Die Before My Dog” by Joe and Cathy Connolly through another dog blog that I follow.  I immediately put the book on my Amazon wish list because I wanted to add the information to my control log (that I am working on).

I jumped at the chance to do a review for it.  I have done book reviews before (for Blogging for Books), but this will be my first book tour and giveway! 

When I told my husband I was going to do this review, his first thought – morbid.  Probably what most people would think, but think about it – who knows your dog better than you?  If something happened to you, would the next guardian know your furbaby’s quirks and know how to handle them?

How about if for some reason you had to give up your animal?  I know as a volunteer at a local animal shelter, they would LOVE to get something like this to help with placing an animal (future editions of this book will include cat and horse versions).

I would recommend this book for all dog owners.  Based on their own experience with taking care of a family member’s dog after they passed, the authors have thought of everything that a new guardian would need to know about their “new” pet.  Do you travel a lot and need to leave your dog in someone else’s care?  This book can also be used as a guide while you are away.  The person watching your dog doesn’t have to guess and you don’t have to worry about telling the sitter all of the little quirks of your baby – it’s all in the book!

A Dog Lovers lasting guide.......An beautifully illustrated interactive book that one fills in all of the information about their dogs life in the event they can no longer care for them to help ensure your pets are taken care of.

A thought provoking check list for dog lovers, who unfortunately and with much sadness can no longer take care of their dog. 

This book will assist those who want to prepare for their dogs future in an easy to use format that will guide them through the process of telling the "story" of their dogs life, for their pets "Next Guardian". 

None of us can predict the future, but in the event situations arise such as death, health impairment or left with no other choice but to give them up, this book will be there to assist your beloved pet with the transition from one home to another.

"If I Should Die Before My Dog -" website        Facebook        Twitter

About the Authors

Authors Joe and Cathy Connolly

Joe and Cathy Connolly have spent a lifetime owning, training and caring for dogs. Cathy grew up with a Collie breeder, dog groomer and dog handler while attending many different dog shows and eventually went on to work with other breeders as she grew older. They live in beautiful Northern Michigan with their 3 furry four legged children, one large dog, one small dog and the entire family is supervised by one bossy calico cat. 

Buy the book from....

Author's Website

Amazon.com

Amazom.co.uk

Barnes and Noble

 

I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.

WIN THIS BOOK!

 Follow the book tour and at the end of the tour, 5 signed copies will be given away!
(Opened to US/CA, GB and Europe from February 11 to March 3)
Check back on February 11 to enter!

 

  

Savings Summary Saturday - January 26, 2013

So much for getting back into the swing of this next week (posted 3 weeks ago)!  This is some of the items from the last 3 weeks.

Items sent for:

• nothing lately.  I've been slacking on checking e-mail & blogs. :P

Grocery Shopping (and other savings) this week:

• Bought Avon skincare on Ebay - $4.99 plus free shipping - used my Ebay rewards and paid only $2.89!
• Free Capitals stuff (from the first game of the season)
• 2 free Capitals shirts for being a partial season ticket holder.
• Schedule magnet (game giveaway)
• CVS
• Scored a great deal on Coke products.  12 packs were on sale for 4/$10, used a coupon for a free 1.25 liter when you buy 3 12 packs and used my $4.50 ECBs
• Dollar Tree
• I realized that I now need to shop here more! They have quite a wide variety of foods and I can easily pick up the seasonings for cheap! Plus I was able to get some inspiration for my "Becoming Betty Crocker" entries!

• Dining Out
• used a $2 coupon from a school fundraiser booklet that we have (paid $20 for the booklet - saved $7 so far)
• Petco
• They were out of the 30 lb bag of food so the manager gave us (2) 15 lb bags for the price of a 30 lb bag (saved $7)
• used a 10% off coupon
• used $5 Petco rewards
• Eastern Mountain Sports
• Hubby needed some stuff for his trip north so we stopped here.  We signed up for their rewards program and the manager gave us a discount of 15% off!  He even said he wasn't supposed to. BONUS!
• Giant
• Angel Soft - on sale for $4.99 (regularly $8.45) used a store coupon and a manufacturer' coupon for $1/2 - paid $3.99 each
• Campbell Skillet Sauces - on sale for $2 (regularly $2.59), used a manufacturer's coupon for 75 cents that doubled - paid 50 cents each.
• General Mills cereals - on sale for buy 2 get 1 free ($4.79 each), used 2 manufacturer's coupons for 75 cents that doubled - paid $2.19 each
• Special K chips - on sale for $1.99 (regularly $3.79), used 2/$1 manufacturer's coupon
• Giant 35 count bottled water - on sale for $3.99, used 1/$1 store coupon - paid $2.99
• used store coupon on beef for $1.99/lb - saved $7.52
• Premio sausage - on sale for $3 (regularly $4.49), used 55 cent manufacturer's coupon that doubled - paid $1.90
• Tysons Grilled Chicken - on sale for $4.99 (regularly $8.49), used 55 cent manufacturer's coupon that doubled - paid $3.89
• used a $8 off $50 coupon that was on the Sunday paper
• Total saves in this trip 47%

Previous weeks items

• CVS
• Nature's Made Vitamins - BOGO - used $7 & $3 manufacturer's coupon (received from Nature's Made rewards program)
• Used $5 gift card received from Viggle
• used $3 ECBs
• paid $2.15 for 2 bottles of vitamins, (3) 2L of coke zero, & Pepto-bismal
• Dairy Queen
• used a BOGO coupon for 2 large blizzards
• Giant
• previous weeks' savings - 44% and 47%.

Gas Savings:

• Used the Exxon credit card which gives us money back on Upromise.com
• Haven't filled up the Jeep since January 11 and when I did, I saved 60 cents per gallon by using my Giant card.

Income (Starting to post again to Ebay & Yardsellr & Listia. My goal is to post at least one item a day.):

• n/a - been cleaning a lot & figuring out what I should sell and what I should just donate.

Things we got in the mail:

• CD from swapacd.com
• Rolling Stone magazine (Rewardsgold.com)
• MyCokeRewards coupons for a free 12 pack (2 coupons)
• a free book to review & blog about (check out my blog on January 31 for the review & for a future giveaway!)
• Purina cat food sample (for donation)

Rewards programs:
MyPoints-  14920 points (personal account) - 14820 points -last week)
MyPoints 4707 points (coupon account) - 4527 points-last week)
Swagbucks - 3401 points (3375 points-last week)
Listia -  41401 credits (41,396 credits last week) $0 paid out for shipping (when buying credits it is 1 cent/credit)
Postpoints -  3260 points (3,245 points last week)
mycokerewards -  6652 points (6468 points-last week)
Bondrewards - $27.21  ($27.16 - last week)
Upromise - $20.99 ($20.99 last week) available for transfer
Capital One Rewards -  8756 miles (8341 miles-last week)
Thanks Again - 1075 points (1075 points last week)
Viggle -  50230 points (50,089 points - last week)
NCP -  45720 (42950 points last week)
Daily Feats - 1695 points (1694 points last week)
ExpoTV - 120 points (70 points last week)

2012 New Year, New Goals - to continue in 2013!

• Use rewards programs to get gifts and daily stuff -
• Use Restaurant.com coupons -
• Set up an Estate -
• Monthly Review/Net Worth
• I created a new budget with only one income and used Quicken so that I am able to run reports to see how well we are staying on track.

"The Housewife Tour 2013" - the week (or should I say year to date) in review

Here it is, January 23 and I haven't been doing great on my blog entries.  The days seem to be flying by and I don't feel like I'm getting much done (maybe because they are big projects?).  So, time to catch up on what's been going on.  Entries for the 8th & 9th were typed in on those days.

Tuesday, January 8
The Housewife Tour is going well.  Yesterday was regular errand day - groceries, laundry - things we usually do on the weekend. 

Today started the cleaning.  I figured the best way to start the whole cleaning process - with something I HATE to do - clean the bathroom.  Specifically, the shower.  YUCK!!!

Anyway, now that that horrible task is done, I feel good and ready to do the rest of the house. LOL!

Wednesday, January 9
I've decided to change this up and just do a weekly entry since I doubt this is going to be interested until I actually do a project!

Today has been dreary, but we got in two good walks (my main goal every day!).  I did some (more) organizing in the scrapbooking room and the guest bedroom.  I still had my boxes from work that I unpacked and pulled stuff out of them to put in the scrapbooking room.

Wednesday, January 23
OK - now for the backtracking on our adventures and my projects.

Let's start with the projects.  I think I have finally finished organizing the guest bedroom.  I had so many boxes of photos (framed & unframed), boxes that never got unpacked (from 10 years ago when we moved into our house).  I moved photos and scrapbooking items into the scrapbooking room for organizing (that's coming up next on my to do list).  I have a bunch of stuff to sell/donate.

While I was doing that, I was also converting cassette tapes to MP3 files.  What comes after that - getting them all into Itunes.  And of course, I end of having some user issues.  First I can't download Itunes 11 to our desktop (where hubby does all his syncing).  I had to delete the software and start from scratch.  Then user issue of opening the files to the wrong folder.  GREAT!  DOUBLE TRACKS!  Needless to say, so far, everything is working out ok on the desktop.  We'll see what happens once hubby gets on and syncs his iphone.

The picture of the remaining tape collection. 
The majority of these weren't converted yet when I started the project.

The one thing that I did do that I've been promising to do was convert my mom's PTL Club tapes to CD for my niece.  She was 3 months old when my mom died and now that she is born again,  She is interested in the music.

Wow - what memories those tapes brought back.  My mom used to play them ALL OF THE TIME.  So much so, 2 of the 4 tapes I had were really warped.

Another project - a budget.  I made an excel budget, but really wanted to start using Quicken more.  THAT was a pain.  Mostly because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to show on the report and what I didn't want on the report.  I created a report that shows our budgeted number and what we have spent so far for the month.  Hopefully, I saved it right so I can track the numbers easier!

Now for the Adventures.

On Friday, January 11 I went to lunch with 2 of my former bosses!  We had it planned before the work doors closed on the 31st.  Even though it had only been two weeks since I've seen them both, it seemed a lot longer.

We did something new - When I was growing up, I used to always go to the local RV dealer's open house with my dad.  I used to enjoy checking out the RVs.  We never owned one or went camping.  The closest was "playing" in our neighbor's RV when it was sitting in their driveway.  Every year (I'm not sure how many years this event has been going on) there is an RV show at the Dulles Expo Center.  I've told Dan for several years that I wanted to go.  Well, we finally went (January 12)!  I think Dan enjoyed it too.  One of our bucket list items is to get an RV and drive across country and Dan said that this helped him get an idea of what was out there and what we will eventually want in the RV (We'll probably rent one first to try RVing out).

Here are the ones that caught our eyes:
Winnebago 2013 Vista 26HE
Rockwood MiniLite

That same weekend (Sunday, January 13), the weather was in the 50s and Dan wanted to go geocaching.  We went to Lake Fairfax in Reston to find 7 geocaches hid by the National Wildlife Federation.

The trails were a little muddy because of the rain 2 days before, but not bad.  We ended up walking close to 5 miles and found all of the 7 (there are 8 on this trail passport, but Dan had already found one).  We did meet up with 2 other geocachers and found one of the caches together.  We had already spend probably 5 minutes (because it said do not cross the bridge but didn't say what side of the bridge) and it was on the other side of the bridge!  Lesson - don't always follow the hint!


This was at the one geocache that took us awhile to find.
Somehow, Esa became a water dog and was really getting her paws wet!

Mama & Baby Girl waiting for Daddy-o to return. 
Zed was there too, just not in this picture.

The biggest thing - HOCKEY IS BACK!  Last night we went to the opening night home game.  It was so nice to see hockey back in action even though the Caps lost.

Hubby just headed out to the yearly cottage winter visit to to go play in the snow.  HAVE FUN - I had enough of the snow and cold growing up.  So the next couple of days, I'm a single parent.  But I will have a visitor on Friday - my nephew!

That gets you up to date.  Let's see if I can do my entries in a more timely fashion from now on....

Becoming Betty Crocker: Garlic Pork Chops

Note:  below recipe was made on January 18.

After these few weeks of cooking, I realize that pork chops are the hardest things to season - what the heck do you put on top of these things?  Nothing like the "other" white meat (chicken) which is so easy to season - no matter what chicken tastes good.

So, I still have the Philadelphia Cooking Creme in the frig and I'm trying to use it before it expires.  I went to the Kraft Foods website and tried to find a pork recipe using the cooking cream that I have (Savory Garlic or Italian Chese and Herb).  No luck.  The closest recipe I could find was this one for Creamy Mustard Pork Chops.

So I thought, maybe I can change it up and use the recipe as a base.  I didn't use any of the first 3 ingredients for the apple mixture or the mustard or parsley.  I cut the cooking creme and milk in half since we only had 2 pork chops.

Guess what - it was good!  At least it was something different to put on the pork chops.  It went well with the garlic mashed potatoes we had (from a box).

Becoming Betty Crocker - Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Note:  This recipe was made on January 14

So we both liked the Baked Chicken Enchiladas so much, I figured I'd make it again (especially since I still have some Philly Cooking Creme left.

First time around, here was my review.  Amazing how when you try something a second time, it comes out different.  Maybe because it was a DIFFERENT RECIPE!  Seriously, up until today while I'm typing this I thought I made the same recipe as last time.  Nope. Come to find out I did THIS recipe instead!

Let me just say - I like these enchiladas much better.  The difference - drained diced tomatoes (the other recipe called for crushed tomatoes).


The mixture that was put in the enchiladas.

Pre-oven - the remaining cooking creme was put on top of the enchiladas and then I added shredded cheese on top (was not in the recipe).

Out of the oven! Oh - I used whole wheat and regular wraps, hence the different tints.  This was the first time we tried whole wheat wraps.  They were good.

Wordless Wednesday - January 23, 2013


Blogpaws.com - Wordless Wednesday

 

Watching the first Capitals game of the season

 

Becoming Betty Crocker: Orange Marmalade Pork Chops

So pork chops are a regular for us, but we never know what to put on them to season them.  Dan found a good recipe a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to try something different.  Enter Pinterest and a search for pork chop sauces and then (since the results were showing recipes with (basic) items we didn't have) I changed it to orange marmalade pork chops.  SUCCESS!

 

 You know me - EASY RECIPE and we have all the ingredients - let's try this!

 

 

I didn't put all of the sauce on it since the recipe was for 5 pork chops & I was only using 3.  It would have been a lot of soy sauce.

 

One hour later - here's what it looked like -

 

It was really good!  We had mashed potatoes with it.  We also put some of the sauce on the pork chops when they were on the dish.

I think this is the easiest recipe so far.

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday - January 9, 2013

Adventures: Trip to NY

Jan. 3 - 9 am

One of the first things I wanted to do while I was off from work was go visit my family in NY.  Since hubby is off this week we decided that it would be easier for me to go to NY now than in a couple of weeks (when I would bring the pups with me).

The drive up was LONG.  It's not as fun as in the past, but Pandora did me well and didn't play that many commercials - I think I heard less than 5 on the 6 hour trip!

You know when things happen for a reason?  Well, Bro needs a ride to chemo this morning.  I am happy that I am here to help out. :) 

January 5 - 9 am (Obviously, this is the quiet time in the house hence the blogging!)
The last couple of days have been relaxing and great just hanging out with the family.  Yesterday, my best friend growing up stopped by to chat and catch up.  It was so good to see Karen - I miss my extended family here in NY.  I think it did my brother some good to see someone besides family and get to see Karen's dog, Skip.

January 6 - 8 pm
The drive back was fine - no major traffic or weather issues.

Last night was great - we all went out to Friendly's for dinner and watched "Dreamgirls" afterwards.

I also asked the "kids" to take a picture together like we used to do.

I brought our snow dog back some snow - she liked it!  Zed licked it, but that was it.  Esa was really eating it & played catch the snowball with Daddy-o.  Picture is mid-catch hence the blurry head!



Savings Summary Saturday - January 5, 2013

I'll be getting back into the swing of this next week!

Items sent for:

• Dentastix
• $2 MP3 credit at Amazon.com (thanks to Cha-Ching for posting)
• Bracelet from Kotex

Grocery Shopping (and other savings) this week:

• Great savings at Harris Teeter this week!
• Saturday only specials (on Dec. 29)
• Edy's ice cream - $1.97 each & had a $1/2 coupon!
• Coke - $1.97 12 pack!
• Freschetta BOGO ($7.49 each) plus had a $1/1 coupon
• Stopped at McDonald's for lunch on the trip up to NY.  Used my $5 gift card that I got from Mycokerewards & got a free "retro" McDonald's glass.

Gas Savings:

•  Used the Exxon credit card which gives us money back on Upromise.com

Income (Starting to post again to Ebay & Yardsellr & Listia. My goal is to post at least one item a day.):

• n/a this week since I'm not home

Things we got in the mail:

• ??? since I'm not home!

Rewards programs:
MyPoints- 14820 points (personal account) - 13905 points -last week)
MyPoints 4527 points (coupon account) - 3787 points-last week)
Swagbucks - 3375 points (3085  points-last week)
Listia - 41,396 credits (41246  credits last week) $0 paid out for shipping (when buying credits it is 1 cent/credit)
Postpoints - 3,245 points (3155  points last week)
mycokerewards - 6468 points (6038  points-last week)
Bondrewards - $27.16 ($26.86 - last week)
Upromise - $20.99 ($18.63 last week) available for transfer
Capital One Rewards - 8341 (6346 miles-last week)
Thanks Again - 1075 points (1075 points last week)
Viggle - 50,089 points (59645 points - last week) - redeemed 10K points for a $5 CVS gift card
NCP - do not have the account # with me (42950 points last week)
Daily Feats - 1694 points (1694 points last week)
ExpoTV - 70 points

2012 New Year, New Goals - to continue in 2013!

• Use rewards programs to get gifts and daily stuff -
• redeemed 10K points on Viggle for a $5 CVS gift card
• Use Restaurant.com coupons -
• Set up an Estate -
• Monthly Review/Net Worth 

2013 - The Year of Change

2012 was FULL of emotions when it came to work.  Are we going to win the contract, what do I do if we lose the contract, sitting around with nothing to do because we couldn't start anything, closing everything up, emptying out the office, etc.  Things that I never thought I would need to go through.

Everything happens for a reason.  As of today, I am unemployed.  I chose not to even apply for the incoming company.  It would have been a "given" job.  Nothing wrong with that, but I have been at the same company for 14 years and have done EVERYTHING.  If I took the job with the incoming company, yes it would be a new challenge, but I've been there, done that.  This is my opportunity to concentrate on me and figure out what I want to do next.

So while I'm looking for a job, I will be concentrating on (not in any particular order, except finding a job is number 1):

• organizing & taking care of the house
• taking care of hubby & the pups
• taking care of ME!
• hobbies (scrapbooking, family tree, blogging, etc)

This leads to some new blog titles!  2013 will include the usual - Adventures, Becoming Betty Crocker, Saturday Savings Summary, Taking Advantage of - but will have the following new titles:

• D.I.N.K (double income no kids) to O.I.N.K (one income no kids)
• how we are cutting back expenses & saving money
• The Housewife Tour 2013
• the "tour" of the house - cleaning, organizing & maybe some DIY projects
• taking care of hubby & the pups
• hobbies updates (maybe daily blog entries???)
• It's all about me
• job search, taking care of me, etc

And there it is - 2013 - let's see how this goes.....