ORTHOPEDICS, REVISITED

Yesterday I took K to the surgeon (Dr. J; but not the hoopster) who'd repaired his ulna earlier this year. X-rays were taken, and the doctor said that more surgery would be necessary in order to remove the steel plate from K's arm.

K is not happy.

Had he been 15 years old instead of 12 when he broke his arm, the plate could just stay put. But the doctor said that the textbook recommends prepubescent kids with screws and plates have them removed before the growing process is complete. Dr. J went on to tease K about having to buy shirts with one long arm and one short arm.

Fortunately, since hubby changed jobs, we seem to have better insurance now. The deductible is half of what it used to be, the insurance company will pay 90% instead of 80% this time, and the office visits are $15 instead of $30. Hopefully this will all add up to a cheaper surgery - the last one really knocked us for a loop.

The scheduler will be calling on Tuesday to set up a time for the second operation. Hey, why does K suddenly feel like my baby instead of my teenager...?

THAT WAS FAST

I can't believe how quickly the holiday season passed. I started decorating early this year on purpose, so that the festivities would (seemingly) last longer. I guess it's true that the older you get, the faster time flies.

Christmas was great. I received lots of excellent gifts, but was even happier to see the recipients of my gifts open theirs. Hubby's big gift from me this year was a collection of our family movies on DVD. I've spent the last two months at T & J's house transferring them all from VHS - and not a moment too soon, from the sad shape of some of those tapes. It has been a long process, and we're only halfway done! Eight years down; eight years to go. In other words, I'll be spending lots of time at T & J's house in early 2007, too.

As for me, I received the following:

From K - Phase 10 Anniversary Edition, at my request
From Ry - tall vanilla-scented candle, which I always welcome
From Pey - a sweater cap and gloves/mittens (they have a flap that opens up so that the tips of your fingers are exposed, in case you need to grip something; or the flap can stay closed in warm-mitten fashion), which I'd actually requested from Ry...boy was he disappointed. Pey got to go shopping with Daddy first. Poor Ry.

From DH - Two beautiful, soft sweaters; a large cake carrier; scrapbooking die-cuts; an adapter so I can play my IPod in the car (WAY cool); a purse; socks; pajamas; a pair of sexy panties, which he threw in with the pj's, lol.

From SIL and BIL (and partially MIL and FIL, too) - tickets to see "Spamalot" next June.

From MIL and FIL - A silver serving fork, which was labeled "To Pley and DH," so I have to share. And a funky purse which I call my wooly mammoth, as it really does look like someone went back in time, skinned a wooly mammoth, and made a purse out of him. I like it because it's different and roomy, but by spring I'll be switching over to the purse DH got me. Somehow wooly things don't really go with sunny weather. Maybe it's just me.
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Now for something totally different. This is from Fishie's blog: Today's assignment: make a list of what people you may have to buy for next year. Then jot down what they received this year. It may help jog your memory next fall. Or it will give you a direction to go in. Get ten names down on paper and some things they received or spoke about wanting. We can do that much!

Here we go:

DH - family videos to DVD; portable DVD player; new DVD player (notice a theme here?)
K - IPod Shuffle; MP3 speaker/pillow; guitar tab paper; guitar picks
RY - IPod Shuffle; Star Wars "Build Your Own Lightsaber" kit
PEY - IPod Shuffle; FLYpen computer
SIL - plush robe; BBW soaps and lotions
BIL - egg separator (SO gross, but SO funny - check it out here)
MIL - bracelet; History of Christianity book
FIL - flashlights; Maps of the Civil War book
J - BBW pedicure kit
T - Tootsie Rolls; homemade white chocolate fudge
TNK - goodie bag: magazines, BBW lotions and soaps; other health & beauty items
EMTsis - see TNK
ECS - magnetized memo board for her room

Thanks, Fish, for getting me on track. Now I'll know next year that FIL doesn't need any more flashlights. I'm sure that's getting old. :)

LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Tonight we went out to dinner with the in-laws, as is our tradition. We'd called ahead to make sure that the restaurant, Los Compadres, would be open. They told us they'd be open until 7:00 p.m.

We got there just after 5:00. As it turns out, we were the only ones in the entire place. For once, our table for seven had plenty of leg room. We were there for about an hour, ate our wonderful dinner, then paid and left at 6:00. As we walked out, the restaurant - which still had no other diners - turned out the lights and closed up an hour early.

Merry Christmas, Los Compadres, and thank you for the delicious tamales.

After dinner, we went to church for the Christmas Eve service. Our church is in transition, meaning the old building has been sold and we're waiting for the new construction to be completed. So in the meantime, the entire church is meeting in a local junior high school. The.place.was.packed. There were at least two hundred people in this service (the church had had another service prior to this one). The majority of the service was singing, which is my hands-down favorite part of church at Christmas, so I enjoyed myself very much.

The only drawback to the service was that we weren't allowed to use candles this year. Typically, everyone holds a small candle and we pass the flame from person to person. But the school district does not allow open flames on its campuses, so our pastor came up with a rather ingenious (and kind of weird) solution: glow sticks. Everyone took a glow stick from the basket, and we all cracked them at the same time. You'd think, as I did, that this would be cheesy, but somehow it worked. All the congregants' faces were lit by a soft glow, and really, it didn't matter that the light did not come from a flame.

Oh Holy Night. Happy Birthday, Jesus. You ARE the reason for the season. Amen.

FRIDAY

I am never, ever going to finish wrapping presents.

It would help if I were not such a procrastinator, but that's not gonna change anytime soon. (Heh, I crack myself up.) As I said before, though, I *am* a successful procrastinator, so I guess I bring it all on myself.

The kids and I spent the day lazing around and watching movies. Today's fare: "The Wild" (an animated flick) and "The Pacifier." The latter starred Vin Diesel, whom I'm not typically a fan of, but this movie really wasn't that bad. It was a tad predictable, but I have to admit that I didn't see everything coming. Vin's commanding officer in the movie? He, I knew from the start, had ulterior motives. Oh, and watching Brad Garrett play a jerkwad who eventually gets his butt kicked was just FUN to watch. Hee!

Last night the family watched "Superman Returns." Again, not a bad flick. Ry kept saying "COOL!" at all the special effects, so I guess kids would give it a thumbs-up. The scene where Superman lands the plane on the baseball field was neat. Okay, it was more than that. Ry was right - COOL!

I also caught up on six days worth of Rachael Ray which I've been DVRing. I love having the option to fast-forward the show, as some of the celebrity guests are SO obviously there to push their latest charity, and not actually there to visit with Rachael. Wow, I guess I have a soft spot for her after all.

Looks like I watched a boatload of TV today. And now I sit here blogging. Wonder why those gifts aren't wrapped yet?

THURSDAY

Today the kids and I went back to T & J's because Pey had left her Christmas gift from them at their house. That, and I had gifts for them that I needed to deliver because they're leaving town in a few days and I may not see them again before Christmas. That, and I just enjoy spending time with them because I haven't always had - nor will I always have - that opportunity.

This was brought home to me this morning while we were driving to their house. Sara MacLachlan's song "Angel" came on the radio, and I just about lost it. That song was released the year my mom died, and it always makes me think about her. Particularly the part where it says, "You're in the arms of the angel...may you find some comfort here."

That was hard to type.

I know I've complained about my mother in the past, and goodness knows we didn't always get along. But she was my mom, and despite the fact that we didn't always see eye to eye (who does, really?), I loved her very much. I know she suffered at the end - the excruciating headache, the loss of the ability to see and understand, the knowledge that you can no longer control yourself, the eventual rupture of the aneurysm in her brain that relieved her pain - and took her life. That makes me ache for her. There's nothing like seeing someone you love lying on a hospital bed, unresponsive and vulnerable, to make you realize how much they mean to you. How silly your spats were. How ridiculous it was that you argued with and hung up on her during your very last phone call.

That...is hard to live with.

Then, as the beginning strains of "Angel" came through the speakers, I drove past a white Chevy Impala. That is the same kind of car Tnk was driving the night the drunk hit her. It's the same car that slammed her up against the truck she'd pulled over. It's the same car that very nearly took her life.

All those memories came rushing back - the 2:00 a.m. phone call that told us she'd been LifeFlighted to the hospital. How hurt she was. How scared we were, and how scared she was. How vulnerable and small she looked in that hospital bed. How close - thisclose, thisdamnedclose - we came to losing her. I felt the tears flowing freely down my face, and I prayed at the same time that the kids wouldn't notice mommy crying.

As I am, again, now.

WEDNESDAY

Today was the kids' first day off school for Christmas break. (The district calls it "Holiday Break"; I call that "BS.") Anyway, we spent the day at T (a.k.a. SDad) & J's watching movies and hanging out. I took J to Walgreen's because there was something she wanted to buy for T. I was sad that I didn't have my handy-dandy coupon organizer with me, because I saw some GREAT stuff on sale. Walgreen's even has Bionicle figures on sale for 3/$11.98. That's less than four bucks each, which is about half the price Target charges for the same toys. The kids heard about that and now they want me to take them to Walgreen's in the morning. Darn, another trip to Walgreen's...however shall I survive?

Tonight I made Robin's Peppermint Bark. Oh. My. Gosh. That stuff is SO good and addicting! I will definitely be breaking it up and portioning it out to give to other people so that I don't eat the whole thing! Robin, promise me you won't give me your mint cookie recipe. Promise!

Right now, hubby is playing Metroid 2 (an XBox game that I totally don't understand); the boys are upstairs playing Bionicle; Pey is watching hubby play the game; and I'm on the computer (duh). I still have what feels like twenty seven thousand gifts to wrap, but I'm a successful procrastinator. It'll get done. I just hope it happens before Christmas Eve.

TUESDAY

Today I spent the day running errands and getting hubby's Christmas gifts ready. Unfortunately, I cannot say more about that right now because hubby reads my blog and would definitely figure out what I've gotten for him.

Tonight we watched "Hitch," starring Will Smith. It was a fun movie, and I do recommend it to anyone who wants something mindless and entertaining to watch. Hubby even enjoyed it, which is rare since he's not a mindless-comedy kind of guy.

Next on our list of movies to watch include: Pirates of the Caribbean II, Superman Returns, The Pacifier, Surviving Christmas, and Walk the Line. All of which I've borrowed from SDad and J's (his girlfriend/significant other) stash. They own almost any movie you can think of, and every Tuesday you can find them at Wal-Mart buying the new releases. And they are more than happy to loan them out to us for free. Better than Netflix! Which we dropped earlier this month, anyway.

What movies are on your watch list?

MONDAY

Today I ran a bunch of errands, including my very least favorite: going to the post office. (Fish, there's more than one reason I jumped the coupon train... :)

I stood in line for about half an hour at the post office just to use the scale. I didn't need a "real" worker; just the scale. Some numbnuts decided they'd take the easy way out and brought their 57 packages to mail - on the scale. The scale can only handle one item at a time, and it slowly prints everything out, then it slowly scans your credit card (apparently credit card systems are on nuclear overload this time of year)... Aggravating.

Then this genius beyotch comes up to mail a large package. She crammed it into the mail slot, raised the handle - and got it stuck. The slot wouldn't open again despite the heroic efforts of two civilians and three postal employees. One of the workers finally had to go to the back and bring out a rolling cart for the rest of us to put our packages in. I just hope they kept an eye on it constantly so that some other numbnut wouldn't be able to walk in and steal something.

My hat is off to you, USPS. I sure as hell wouldn't want your job this time of year. Or ever. Merry Christmas!

IT FEELS LIKE JUNE

This weather is nuts. At my house today, the thermometer hit eighty-three freaking degrees. It's December, for goodness sake. Where is my snow? Heck, at this point, I'd settle for "where is my cool breeze?" Pez, I feel for you and the Arctic temps you've recently encountered...want to send some of it my way?

Last night was K's guitar recital. He played "Time of Your Life" by Green Day, and "Carol of the Bells" by ... um, I dunno. K did a fantastic job on both songs, and I honestly could not be prouder. Oh, and the programs (done by moi) were also a hit. Although not so much a hit as the musicians, but I'll get there one day.

Today the family went to see "Eragon." The Houston Chronicle panned the flick, but it was actually pretty good. Even I enjoyed it, and I'm not much of a fantasy-movie type girl. ("Willow" and "Star Wars" the lone exceptions.) The only part that was kind of grisly was when the evil sorcerer was made up to look uber-gross, but if you point out that it's like a Halloween mask, most kids will get over it. Or you could do like hubby and say, "Boy, he needs some Chapstick!" That made me laugh and forget that the dude looked like Satan - I actually started feeling bad for the actor because it really did look like his lips had just spent an hour exposed to the cold air while he was skiing in Colorado.

Everyone is telling me they're hungry, so I guess I'll sign off for now. Wishing you all a good week and plenty of Chapstick. Ciao!

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Lots to do today...

1. Type up the program for K's guitar recital tomorrow night. I volunteered for this job because the programs from the last recital were very sad. Picture this - an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of white paper, all names typed in a rather large Times New Roman font, several misspelled names ("Go Tell Aunt Rhody" does not have an "e" in Rhody), misaligned tab stops (ooh, that is a pet peeve of mine), and the crowning touch: an old piece of clip art, which had been cut out of something else and taped onto the first draft before the copies were made. It was very 1982, let me tell you. I'm bringing the guitar programs into the new millenium. What a trendsetter I am! Who knew?

2. Take said programs to Office Depot and have 30 copies made. I really want to do color copies, but we shall see how much that costs first.

3. Use my Bath & Body Works coupon before it expires tomorrow. This is a "buy anything, get something free" coupon, so I plan to purchase a little gift bag for two bucks and get a $12 bottle of lotion for free to put in it. I love me a good coupon.

4. Mount Laundry, which will soon erupt if I do not get my bohonkus in there and shovel it down a bit.

5. Look up spelling of "bohonkus."

6. Continue wrapping Christmas gifts, but make sure to note what I've bought already before I wrap it. I've been shopping for months, and as such I'm sure there's some stuff in there that I've forgotten about.

7. Touch base with Tnk. Since her partner quit, I am constantly worried about her. I just need to make sure she made it home safely.

8. Go to the store and buy some bread already! Geez, we've been out all week.

9. Get off the computer and get busy.

SECOND ROUND

That's how far Pey made it in the spelling bee yesterday. She ended up in about 11th place out of the whole school, which is pretty darn good for a 3rd grader if you ask me. I might be biased, being her mom and all, but I think she did a fantastic job.

The word that got her - which she will never, ever forget; trust me - was "panic." She spelled it correctly, but then put a "k" on the end. Had the word been "panicking," she'd have been on the right track.

She was a very good sport about the whole thing, and I couldn't be prouder of her.

Way to go, Pey. I love you, babe.

COULD YOU USE THAT IN A SENTENCE?

The legacy lives on...

Like her mom before her (not to brag, but I was spelling bee champion ten out of 12 years through school - this might explain my anal retentiveness in the spelling department, lol), today Pey is competing in the school spelling bee. Not to be cliché, but in this case, it is an honor to even be nominated. She was selected as one of the top seven spellers in the whole 3rd grade, and as such is eligible to compete in the school-wide bee.

I am so proud.

The competition starts at 9:00 a.m. CST, so y'all send a plethora of good thoughts this way, okay?

CHILLIN'

Actually, that should say "Illin'" because I have been really sick. Fortunately, I'm getting better now - still congested and coughy (coffee? lol, I crack myself up) but at least I have more energy.

Last Thursday, as I was getting ready for the Christmas party, I was so fatigued that every activity caused me to have to lie down and rest. Even painting my nails wore me out - I had to stop and close my eyes after each hand. Even after my bath, which should by definition be relaxing, I had to flop down on the sofa to try and make the world stop spinning. No fun, lemme tell ya.

The party itself was nice. It was held on the 43rd floor of a downtown Houston office building. The views were spectacular, the decor was elegant, the bar was open (!), and the food was delicious. Or so I was told. With all the congestion running amok in my head, I have not tasted a thing since last Wednesday.

Hubby and I got to the party at 7:00, and left at 8:45. We are so lame. Actually, we're not that lame, but I was not feeling well. Plus, since dh had to work the next day (who gives a big party on a THURSDAY???), we thought it would be a good time to go. My MIL, who was babysitting, was quite surprised to see us walk in the door so early. I barely made it to bed before passing out.

But as usual when one is sick, one does not sleep the whole night through. I have not gotten more than 4 hours of sleep at any one time in nearly a week, and I am exhausted. It's like having a newborn baby all over again, only without the good-smelling cuddles.

Eh, I can't smell anything anyway.

YEP, I'M SICK

I woke up at 2:17 this morning with a very sore throat. My nose was also "stucked up" (as little Pey used to call it), but the throat burned on all cylinders. Ouch.

I wearily made my way downstairs, took some Sudafed, and popped a throat lozenge - then realized it would probably be dangerous to go back to bed with a quarter-size blob in my mouth. So I propped up on the sofa and turned on the TV. Middle of the night is the best time to catch old movies on American Movie Classics, by the way, especially if you're hoping to fall asleep. The reason for this is that AMC doesn't have commercial breaks, so the volume stays pretty consistent. I saw most of two movies: one 1940s flick with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, and one painfully boring movie with Lucille Ball, which was apparently made before she found her comedic niche.

Unfortunately, I never did fall asleep. The Sudafed unclogged my nose all right - then made me start sneezing. It's very hard to doze off with a constant stream of - uh, you know - heading out your nasal passages.

So here I sit, almost 13 hours later. I'm still congested and/or sneezy, but my throat doesn't hurt much. That is a blessing in itself. I'm all dressed up for tonight already, with the exception of my house slippers, which are currently warming my cold feet. Later I'll change into my hot-mama heels, but for now, I am incredibly cozy.

I just hope I can stay awake long enough to enjoy the party. Wish me luck.

GOOD TIMING

Tomorrow night is hubby's company Christmas party (yes, Thursday; yes, weird), complete with free food and an open bar. Naturally, I'm coming down with a darned cold today. How am I supposed to look all hot and sexy with a runny nose and watery eyes?

Despite the fact that all I want to do is snuggle up on the sofa in front of the fire with a hot cup of tea, I have actually gotten some stuff accomplished today: I cleaned up the kitchen, complete with sweeping and mopping and dusting and polishing the cherry-wood table. Of course I do all this every day [ahem, cough cough], so really, no biggie.

Oh, I have also finished cooking dinner already. I made Heinz 57 Soup*, which is hearty and delicious. I'm pretty sure it will make my stuffed-up self feel much better. I do have to make some cornbread to go along with it, but that should be pretty easy.

I also put the finishing touches on the Christmas decorations. Last weekend, my MIL gave us a cute little metal scrollwork tree, about two feet tall. Today I covered it with shiny and matte gold balls and three bunches of silk poinsettias. It looked good, but I decided it needed a skirt. Not having any extra Christmas tree skirts on hand, I went to the drawers of my china cabinet and pulled out several green placemats. I spread them around and set the tree on top, and voila! The tree is now fully dressed. And it looks nice, too, if I do say so myself.

Last night the family watched "Miracle on 34th Street" (the original version with young Natalie Wood). That may be my favorite Christmas movie of all time. Wait, actually I think it's tied with "A Christmas Story," which I also love. Rudolph and Frosty and all those are good, too, but give me a good live-action holiday movie and I'm a happy girl.

So what are your favorite Christmas movies? I need to know if I'm missing any good ones!
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*Recipe for super-easy Heinz 57 soup:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large (family-size) can vegetable soup
1 can Ranch Style Beans (optional)
1 bottle Heinz 57 sauce

Brown beef, then add rest of ingredients and heat through. Serve with jalapeno pepper slices, if you like it spicy (I will definitely be doing this!).

AN OLD SONG ONCE SAID...

"...you can't please everyone, so you gotta please yourself."

I'd like to know just how you do that. I am having an impossible time of trying to please anyone, much less myself. Whom, I might add, perpetually remains at the bottom of my "trying to please" list.

K came home from school in a pissy mood today. Attempts at finding out what was wrong or trying to help were met with grunts. Yes, this is common with teens. No, it doesn't make it any less frustrating.

And...well, I just typed out a bunch of stuff, but it makes me sound bad, so I deleted it. Plus, it did not need to be on the innernet in perpetuity. That wouldn't have been pleasing to anyone.

And so it goes.

Q & A

Today I thought I'd do a little catch-up on other posts and also on some of the comments I've received. Onward!

To Robin regarding The Grocery Game: You should DEFINITELY give GG another chance. It only costs $1.00 for the first four weeks, and I promise you you'll more than get your money back. Start here: www.thegrocerygame.com. And kiss generics goodbye! ;)

To Pez regarding the Cranium coupon: Go to Target and purchase a 10-pack of Minute Maid Kids orange juice boxes. On the outside of the package it says something like "Cranium Savings Inside." Inside the package are two $5.00-off Cranium coupons. One of them is very specific; the other says "Save $5.00 on any Cranium product (except Ziggity)." That's the one I used.

In other news:

Tnk's friend's son Trey, who was hit by a car, has been released from the hospital and sent home! He has months of rehab ahead of him, but he will survive. God is truly good.

K has still not asked Ashley for her phone number. He is incredibly shy. I just hope she doesn't break his heart without knowing she's doing it. lol

Pey is definitely over whatever bug she had the other day. As her mommy and clean-up crew, I am very thankful for that.

Ry misspelled "layette" in the school spelling bee. This is a child who could spell "acknowledgement" at four years old. I felt really bad for him. But hubby, three children later, didn't even know what a layette was, so Ry is actually ahead of the game.

Tree is loving his new police job. His hours at the moment are 6:00a to 2:00p Monday through Friday. We've all told him to forget about that - he's a rookie, and as such will soon be relegated to chasing perps in the crappiest part of town in the middle of the night and every weekend. But as his worried big sister, I like his current hours much better.

Tnk is about as fully recovered as she will ever get. Her right thumb will never bend again, and she has nerve damage on her left hand that will forever keep it from bending fully. But she is back at work and doing a great job, and I could not be prouder of her.

EMTsis also continues to impress me. On Thanksgiving Day, when we were all at my great-grandmother's house celebrating her birthday, my aunt D fell ill. EMTsis grabbed her medic bag and checked her out, then immediately recommended that aunt D go to the ER. She went with her, and as soon as they got to the hospital, the physician put aunt D on medication to regulate her heart. She will likely have to stay on that medication for the rest of her life. EMTsis's quick action may have saved aunt D's life.
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I'm stopping there because once again I'm starting to feel like a failure. (I am not posting this for sympathy; I am just documenting my thoughts.) The other night at Tree's graduation, Tnk was in her police uniform, Tree was in his, and EMTsis was in her EMT uniform. Tnk's partner even came to the graduation, and he too was in uniform. I stick out like a sore thumb in all the pictures. The other night I told hubby I'd start looking for a job to bring in some extra money, but even that feels like I'm failing my children and my family. At 39 years old, it's time I found purpose and direction for my life. So far, I have accomplished what feels like nothing.

Okay, I'm stopping there. I mean it this time. :)

HELLO, DECEMBER

And greetings, winter weather. I have missed you so.

This morning I bundled up in my warmest jacket and braved the crowds at Tarjay to do some grocery shopping. Bonus: I met a fellow Grocery Gamer today! Her name is Erin and we met over the Kraft mac & cheese aisle. That was cool.

Anyway, typically Kroger is much cheaper on groceries, particularly because they double and triple coupons. However, from time to time Target.com has excellent, stackable coupons on their website, so I was able to score lots of good food (and a Christmas gift, too) for a really low price.

Here's a breakdown:

• Cranium Cadoo game (originally $14.99; on sale for $7.49; I had $5.00-off coupon) = $2.49
• 4 packages of Nestle chocolate chips (originally $1.99; I had two stacked coupons for each one equalling 90-cents off each) = $1.09 x 4
• 5 boxes of Kraft mac & cheese (originally .82/box; on sale for .60/box; I had coupons for .50 off each) = $.10 x 5
• 2 containers of Daisy sour cream (originally .92/container; I had coupons for .50 off each) = $.42 x 2
• 2 packages of dairy-sliced cheese - Monterey jack & provolone (1/4 lb. at $1.25 and $1.35 respectively; I had coupons for $1.00 off each) = $.25 + $.35
• 2 packages beef steaks, 6 per package (each just over $5; $2.00 coupon on package, plus $2.00 coupon from website) = approx. $1.00 per package
• 2 lbs. 93/7 lean ground beef ($3.49/lb.; I had two coupons for $1.25 off each pound) = $2.24 x 2
• 1 package taco shells (1.29; I had coupons for $1.00 off each) = $.29
• 2 packages flour tortillas (1.49; I had coupons for $1.00 off each) = $.49 x 2
• 1 package frozen waffles ($1.52; I had coupon for .50 off) = $1.02
• 1 package frozen meatballs ($5.99; I had no coupon, but these are a dollar cheaper than at Kroger - does that count?) = $5.99
• 5 cans diced tomatoes (.49/can; I had coupons for $1.00 off each) = they paid ME $.51 x 5
• 2 cans Mexican-style tomatoes (.89/can; I had coupons for $1.00 off each) = they paid ME $.11 x 2
  

Grand total before coupons: $56.29
Grand total after coupons: $21.19

I bought thirty items and paid just over $21 - which includes the game. And as we all know, games are typically really expensive.

My coupon savings equaled $35.10 ... Even the cashier was impressed. heehee

The Cadoo game is going to be a Christmas gift. I love getting good gifts so inexpensively. And needless to say, I am also loving Target! :)

How's your December shopping coming along?