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I think that the mommy spidey sense is an amazing thing. You know how you diagnose your kid as being sick long before they actually display tangible symptoms? I have been waiting for it for days and there it is. I am beginning to think she's been sick for weeks with one thing, actually. It's not that she seems sicker currently than your average cold or similar (except her cough is beginning to worry me) but I think she will find herself in the doctor's office on Monday unless there's marked improvement tomorrow. She never got completely well from the last thing before she got it again.
I have sort of given the couponing up, most of the way. It's not that it's not still a valid and fun hobby, it's that that stupid freaking show has turned it into a three-ring circus. It's one thing to spend ten hours a week on your hobby/part-time job (since I do the sales, I have in the past considered it such.) It's another to spend five hours making a shopping list, printing coupons, organizing inserts and clipping things and then spend three or four hours doing the shopping and coming home with a lot of fun loot and another thing entirely to spend that same amount of time doing something only to go out shopping and find nearly nothing in stock because of all the newbies. Part of it is that I had shifted my shopping times--I used to go out on Sunday mornings, but we go to church now. Still, even going on Sunday afternoon finds things out of stock for the week and it's just too much of a hassle. I let it go sometime before Christmas--which is also my traditional time of year to tone it down anyway because I do a lot of other shopping things then. I just haven't picked it back up much yet. I am still DOING it, but in a more normal-person sort of way. I just have a lot of other things going on these days and it's a lot of work.
In any case, I ran out of shampoo finally, a couple of weeks ago, and I went out to my storage room and found... nothing. Eek! I hadn't bought shampoo in ages and it's been literally years since I bought shampoo without it being close to free. I kept thinking I'd make a list and see if I could find any deals or freebies and do a little shopping this week, but I never got around to it. I've been using Evie's shampoo a little, but mostly those samples and trial sized bottles that I normally never actually use. (Am I the only one with a big pile of those things that I never think about using?) It's been driving me crazy but at the same time, I thought it was a great opportunity to get rid of those things so I was trying to force myself to go with it. Anyway, I went out running errands today, one of which was the grocery shopping, and while I was there... I decided to bite the bullet and just BUY SOME SHAMPOO, just like a normal person, coupon or no. I know that this story of hair care purchasing is not particularly compelling, except... I realized that just before I put it into my cart, I actually darted glances up and down the aisle in shame, checking to see if anyone had noticed what I was purchasing. It was exactly the same as those self-conscious kids you see standing around in Walmart, trying to work up the nerve to go peruse the condoms. I bought hair care products at retail price! The SHAME.
(You know what the absolute worst part was? In my furtive shampoo selection process, I grabbed the wrong bottle and came home with conditioner. I STILL have no shampoo. Duh.)
I am beginning to think that I am not entirely comfortable with a truly clean house. I had a really clean house, last weekend. It looked great. It made me feel somewhat antsy, though, like I'm afraid to do anything for fear of messing it up, or like it's someone else's house. It just feels strange to me. It stayed pretty clean through the first half of the week, but has been slowly degrading day by day since. I'm sure that says something about my psyche.
I have sort of given the couponing up, most of the way. It's not that it's not still a valid and fun hobby, it's that that stupid freaking show has turned it into a three-ring circus. It's one thing to spend ten hours a week on your hobby/part-time job (since I do the sales, I have in the past considered it such.) It's another to spend five hours making a shopping list, printing coupons, organizing inserts and clipping things and then spend three or four hours doing the shopping and coming home with a lot of fun loot and another thing entirely to spend that same amount of time doing something only to go out shopping and find nearly nothing in stock because of all the newbies. Part of it is that I had shifted my shopping times--I used to go out on Sunday mornings, but we go to church now. Still, even going on Sunday afternoon finds things out of stock for the week and it's just too much of a hassle. I let it go sometime before Christmas--which is also my traditional time of year to tone it down anyway because I do a lot of other shopping things then. I just haven't picked it back up much yet. I am still DOING it, but in a more normal-person sort of way. I just have a lot of other things going on these days and it's a lot of work.
In any case, I ran out of shampoo finally, a couple of weeks ago, and I went out to my storage room and found... nothing. Eek! I hadn't bought shampoo in ages and it's been literally years since I bought shampoo without it being close to free. I kept thinking I'd make a list and see if I could find any deals or freebies and do a little shopping this week, but I never got around to it. I've been using Evie's shampoo a little, but mostly those samples and trial sized bottles that I normally never actually use. (Am I the only one with a big pile of those things that I never think about using?) It's been driving me crazy but at the same time, I thought it was a great opportunity to get rid of those things so I was trying to force myself to go with it. Anyway, I went out running errands today, one of which was the grocery shopping, and while I was there... I decided to bite the bullet and just BUY SOME SHAMPOO, just like a normal person, coupon or no. I know that this story of hair care purchasing is not particularly compelling, except... I realized that just before I put it into my cart, I actually darted glances up and down the aisle in shame, checking to see if anyone had noticed what I was purchasing. It was exactly the same as those self-conscious kids you see standing around in Walmart, trying to work up the nerve to go peruse the condoms. I bought hair care products at retail price! The SHAME.
(You know what the absolute worst part was? In my furtive shampoo selection process, I grabbed the wrong bottle and came home with conditioner. I STILL have no shampoo. Duh.)
I am beginning to think that I am not entirely comfortable with a truly clean house. I had a really clean house, last weekend. It looked great. It made me feel somewhat antsy, though, like I'm afraid to do anything for fear of messing it up, or like it's someone else's house. It just feels strange to me. It stayed pretty clean through the first half of the week, but has been slowly degrading day by day since. I'm sure that says something about my psyche.
