She works hard for the money...

...so hard for it honey. Well, i didn't work hard FOR the money, but i sure worked hard to SPEND the money. Yesterday was supposed to be a nice, relaxing day off for me. Frank and I were supposed to do a number of different things, together. But what ended up happening was more than i could have expected. Across the street from my house is a Family Dollar store. As most of you know, they sell relatively cheap things, almost like a Dollar Tree, but they have a wide variety of name brand things like WalMart does. Well, that store apparently ran out on it's lease, and another store is going to take over. So what does that all mean, you ask? Well, it means that they were going to have a sale to get rid of stuff. This was all a rumor at first, as nobody at the store would admit there was going to be any such sale. So when i got up yesterday morning, there were about 50 cars and 150 people in the store waiting to buy things that were 75% off!! That's right, 75%! Frank, Mady and I walked over in the morning to see what all the hub-bub was all about, then we went to the bank and the farmer's market and such. On the way home, i decided that i had to go into the store and get at least something. So i walked over, and was greeted at the door by a man who said the line was an hour and a half long. Ok, i thought, i can wait that long for a really good deal. So in i went. Well, i found a bunch of stuff, and a box to put it all in, and i got in the back of the line, which was at the back of the store...litterally. Well, 2 hours later i had only moved about 15feet, as the computers had failed at the checkout, due to such a high volume. Wow, was this deal really worth it? I had called my mom when i first got in line and asked her if she needed anything, and she came over to look around, and i called my Aunt to see if she wanted anything while i was waiting in the line anyways. Well, my mom found some stuff, which i was going to get for her, and then she left for a while, thinking i would only be about an hour or so. Well, she came back about an hour later and i had only moved about 5 feet! So she went looking for more stuff, and i found a bigger box for everything. 2 more hours later, and now 2 boxes full of stuff, we were still in the same place in line. I had no idea it would be this bad, but 4 hours into it, i wasn't going anywhere. All of us together in line had starting talking, so it wasn't as bad as you would think. We were joking and laughing. And when someone in front of us would give up and just leave their stuff on the side, it was like vultures going after it! Needless to say, everyone had a ridiculous amount of stuff, which was why it was taking so veyr long at the registers. That, and they only had 2 registers and 4 people working. They totally didn't expect this many people, as they didn't advertise of anything. But seriously people, we're a small town, word of mouth is better than any advertisement you could ever get. There were people in that store from god only knows where, but somehow they heard about it and were there. The deals really were amazing. The longer we waited in line, and the more people that gave up their stuff, the more i would accumulate in my cart. Yes, that's right, my mom and i managed to snag a few carts to pile our loads of stuff into. 8 hours later, and i finally got checked out. My total was $62.11...that means i had $248.44 worth of stuff! And it was all good stuff too, from laundry detergent to dreft, cleaning products to sheets, window blinds to hair ties for Mady. I think i got it all. And they said that the place that's moving into this building will be having a similar sale when they get ready to move. I'll probably be there too, how can i pass up such a good deal?!

A view of my shopping cart

Some of my "goods"

Some of the people in front of me, and their mountains of stuff

The radio we had to open and set up to keep us sane, since there was no music and we were going CRAZY! LOL

The fat, scary man from out of town who tried to make the music die because he was cranky...some people in line yelled at him and set another radio up

The scary lady with the bi-polar dog. The dog isn't bi-polar, it's a rescue dog in training for bi-polar people. But i think this lady was bi-polar. She was barefoot, with one pant leg rolled up and the other dragging, and missing teeth!

A new step...

For my birthday last sunday, my darling husband got me a blender. Don't be shocked or concerned, it's what i wanted! Yes, i did say that, i really wanted it. I am going to start making my own baby food for Madylinn. I'm taking mattters into my own hands. I'm starting off small, just making fruits and veggies, and hopefully i'll get good enough at it that i'll be able to make some tasty dinners for her. I figure i can save AT LEAST $10 a week, and it will only increase the more she eats. I have to admit, it's not as easy as i thought it would be, but i'm only learning right now. I found a website with some wonderful step by step directions and some tasty sounding recipies, and i have some friends that make their own baby food, so hopefully i won't screw this up too too much. And worse comes to worse, i can always make fruity frozen drinks :)

Time to keep the noise down...

Yup, you read that right. For the first time in, well, a very long time, we have to start keeping the noise down in the Grindstaff household. Yup, we are getting new neighbors. I saw them starting to move things in yesterday. From what i gather, it's a man and his young (like Mady's age young) son...but i see no wife of girlfriend or anything. No, i'm not looking for a new man, but it's weird to see a guy with custody of his son, and no mother or girlfriend or anything around. I'm just saying. They aren't moved in completely yet. I figure we have a few days, until they get all the stuff in the house and set up and all. Then, we have to try to be quiet. But with any luck, that won't be for long...as long as we get good news back on the house!

Our holiday weekend...

This holiday weekend was especially nice. Why, you may ask?! Well, not only was it my birthday (and by the way, thank you everyone, for your wishes...it was very appreciated), but it was also gorgeous outside (for the most part). We had lots of picinics to go to, so we were outside for most of the weekend. We did, however, manage to get Mady into the pool everyday. Here are some pictures of Mady swimming in the "big kid" pool...

Mady and Daddy resting

Playing with Daddy

Chilling with Pappy Frank

With Mommy

With Pappy Frank and Isabella

Splish splash...

Yesterday, i inflated Madylinn's whale pool for her to go swimming, since it was 88 degrees outside. The ultimate outcome was wonderful, because Mady loved swimming...but getting to that outcome was an ordeal and a half.

I started out trying to blow the pool up myself, by mouth. I didn't anticipate how difficult that would be, and i most assuredly underestimated how big this pool really was. After about 10min, and a dizzy spell later, i realized that wasn't the way to go. Using my brain a bit on my day off, i tried my hardest to think what i could use to blow this pool up. We do have an air pump, but it's the smaller kind, and we keep it on the boat to inflate the tubes. So that was a no go, since i wasn't about to pack Mady up and drive all the way out to the boat. So i kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking. Then i had an idea...the bicycle tire pump. I know what you're thinking, but at the time it sounded like it was a great idea and it would really work! Well, we broke that out...and 30min later, we were only half way inflated, and i was just as ready as she was to jump into that pool! I was covered in sweat and really getting nowhere fast. Then, it came to me...take it to the gas station and use the air hose there and fill it up. BINGO! It actually worked. So, an hour after i started, i finally had the pool blown up and filled with water and ready to go. After lunch (so the water could warm up), and a quick nap, we were ready to go for a dip. She had a great time, and was in the pool for about 2 hours before she was tired of the sun and ready for another nap.

Her very first bikini

Eating her toys
Splish splashing away

Swimming

Finished swimming

Mady's day out...

Yesterday was such a beautiful day out, i decided to take Mady to the playground. It's especially nice because all of the bigger kids are in school, so it's usually just kinds unde the age of 5. Well, yesterday was extra special because there were no other kids there at all! We had the whole playground to ourselves! Mady loves the playground, so this was a great treat to be able to be on anything we wanted.

Here is Mady on the slide

Here is Mady in the bucket swing

Of course, after spending the day outside and being slathered in sunscreen, she needed a bath. After her bath, she was all about giving love to the camera. She gets very laughy around bed time, i'm not really sure why...we love it though

Showin some love

Forever cast in...cement?

Yesterday morning, i decided to take my dog running with me. I don't take him every single day anymore, mostly because of rain and/or time restraints, but i try to take him a few times a week. Well, we went for our usual 4 mile sprint yesterday morning. We were coming across the bridge back into town, and i noticed the construction workers. Let me catch you up really quick. They are repaving the whole avenue (the street right off of the bridge), and they have the streets and the corners dug up. They are also putting new handicapped corners on every corner. Anyway, back to my disaster. So i had assumed (there's my first problem) that the workers were going from east to west, and hadn't gotten to the last corner yet. Boy, was i wrong. We were sprinting across the bridge like usual, and we were watching the workers on the corner across from us. There were no barrels, no cones, no fences, no nothing in front of us, so we didn't think twice about continuing to run. Well, something in my head told me to look down. I looked just in time to see me AND ecko charging into a corner of wet cement. My shoe and the dogs front legs were covered! And the workers just said "Ooohh, what are you doing?!"...to which i so kindly replied "If you would have put up a fence or a cone or something, this wouldn't have happened! What's wrong with you people?!" Needless to say, when we got home i had to scrub the dogs legs off and leave my shoes outside. I'm waiting for the cement to dry so i can chip it off. I take comfort in knowing that those "lovely" workers will have to re-pave that whole corner now because of me. Maybe they will not be so lazy next time.