Catching up - the last couple of weeks

Oh, I'm so bad at adding entries when I need to!  So, catching up on life again -

Thanksgiving followup
Esa's bed that was purchased on Black Friday has been used by Zed more than Esa.  Zed likes fluffy and Esa doesn't really care about fluff.  We've gotten a couple of pictures of them on the right bed (see the Flickr picture stream), but it's seldom.

Saturday after Thanksgiving, the pups and I went to Waldorf, MD to visit a former co-worker (AJ) and her pup, Princess.  The pups all got along, but Drama Queen, Esa, wasn't really into the visit.  After awhile, she was whining at the door to leave.  Oh, it's so funny how pups are just like kids.  "I guess I'll play with you since my mom is making me."  Zed was just his usual momma's boy and sticking by me.  Pictures still need to be posted (another item I'm behind on).

The Monday after Thanksgiving, I came home to a GREAT surprise of all the Christmas lights up on the house and the tree up!  Dan was off that day and took care of it all.

Holiday Giveaway Blog Hop
All of that time spend on entering and no winnings : (  Now I need to clean up my twitter and facebook accounts.....

Work
Work is still in limbo.  As of right now, our (Westfield) contract will end on January 31, 2011.  Although, we are still protesting and I think that the incoming contractor does not have a signed cotnract.  So as far as I know, as of Feburary 1, I will be out of a job.  Things will work out.  Just need to have everything settled that is beyond my control.  I cannot worry about it and I know that our family will be fine money wise.

CVS is STILL paying me for my purchases!

CVS, you are losing money on me!  I got approximately $70 in product for free last night!

During my last visit, I got a coupon from the coupon scanner that was for a $25 gift card with a new or transferred prescription.  I just happened to get a renewal on a Rx yesterday - perfect timing!  So the first stop on the visit the the pharmacy to get the $25 gift card, then do the shopping.

So here's the bag o' stuff I got and how I got it down to $14.45 which I then paid for with a gift card!  FREE STUFF!!!!!

2 colgate toothpastes $2.49 each - used 2 $1 manufacturer coupons
1 Planters nuts $2.50 each - used CVS coupon of $2.50 off of 1
6 Ziploc freezer bags $2.50 each - used 3 $1.25/2 manufacturer coupons
4 Pantene shampoo/conditioners $3.74 each - used 2 bogo manufacturer coupons
3 Biore facial cleansers $4.49 each - used 3 $2 manufacturer coupons
1 Herbal Essence shampoo $2.99 - used $1 manufacturer coupon
1 Gain dish soap $0.99 - used $.50 manufacturer coupon
2 CVS 10pk batteries - $6.79 - on sale for bogo
4 schick 2 pk women's razors (travel size) - $1.29 - used 4 $1 manufacturer coupons
used e-mailed $5 off of $40 CVS coupon
used $22.96 in ECBs
= $14.45
paid with $25 gift card
$10.55 balance

My third purchase was 2 $25 Petco gift cards - I got $10 ECBs back.  I read this online somewhere - someone said they were buying and using the giftcards - THAT is a GREAT idea.  I've never thought of that!  I planned on going to Petco tonight to pick up dog food anyway - those gift cards will be gone tonight; but I still have my $10 to use at CVS!

Books for the Bucket List

I've seen this list before, but didn't really track it.  Time to update the Bucket List!

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.

- Bold those books you've read in their entirety
- Italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read an excerpt (changing this to the movie)

*when I read it is in parenthesis

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien (have it in our DVD collection)


2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling (have it in our DVD collection)


6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (in high school)

7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne

8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis

10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller

12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks

14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger (in high school)

16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (years ago - I was probably in my early teens)

19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling (have it in our DVD collection)
 23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling (have it in our DVD collection)


24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling (have it in our DVD collection)


25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy

27. Middlemarch, George Eliot

28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving

29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck

30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (this year - 2010)

31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson

32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett

34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute

38. Persuasion, Jane Austen

39. Dune, Frank Herbert

40. Emma, Jane Austen

41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery

42. Watership Down, Richard Adams

43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

46. Animal Farm, George Orwell

47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian

50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett


52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck

53. The Stand, Stephen King

54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (about 2 years ago - 2008)

55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth

56. The BFG, Roald Dahl

57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome

58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer

60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman

62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden

63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough

65. Mort, Terry Pratchett

66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

67. The Magus, John Fowles

68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett

70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding (in high school - read and saw movie in English class)

71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind

72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell

73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett

74. Matilda, Roald Dahl

75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding

76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt

77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins

78. Ulysses, James Joyce

79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens

80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson

81. The Twits, Roald Dahl

82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

83. Holes, Louis Sachar

84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake

85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson

87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

89. Magician, Raymond E Feist

90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac

91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo

92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel

93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett

94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

95. Katherine, Anya Seton

96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer

97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez

98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson

99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot

100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie