Crock Pot Breakfast

I don't want to forget this..... I'm going to try the Crockpot Whole Grain Breakfast Cereal instead of the tasty Coach's Oats we've been eating every morning. Talk about a no-fuss breakfast! yes! I am fired up.

Went to Safeway tonight after bedtime so NO KIDS. I was able to wander up and down the aisles and look at what was on sale to match up with my coupons. Of course now that I have discovered the Nourishing Gourmet I wish I hadn't bought half of that stuff but... oh well. After all the sales and coupons I saved 44%. I've got to tell you I wasn't too excited about that number since I had about $16.25 in coupons ~ yes, JUST COUPONS!! That's pretty good for me. The two best deals:

Simple Harvest granola bars
reg $4.29
on sale 2/$5
$1/1 coupons (lots)
final price: $1.50 each

Rice Dream
reg $2.29
on sale $1.50
$1/4 (on the box!! score!!)
final price: $1.25 each

The one thing I did buy without a coupon or a sale was sausage. I'm treating my DH for his birthday. That's true love. (Aren't I nice?) :-P

I did notice at Safeway that entire sections of refrigerated cases were empty and covered with plastic: eggs, cheese, yogurt, lunch meat, hot dogs. The list is pretty long. When it was my turn at the checkout line (the only one open at 10 pm on Saturday night!) I came face to face with the uber-efficient chip-on-my-shoulder sarcastic checker (this is my neighborhood store, I have opinions on most of the employees). I like him for his efficiency but sometimes think he could, well, spark up his personality a little bit. Anyway he was shocked with my 15 coupons that ALL rang up properly (yes I check my coupons in advance!) so I thought I might be in his good graces.

Me: "So, can you give me the 3-second shpiel on what's up with all the refrigerated cases being empty?"
checker: "oh sure. I got really hungry and ate up everything in all the cases."
Me: [without missing a beat] "oh yes, I did notice you put a sign up that said "I O U 1 Cheese" so I see how that could have happened."

And that's all she wrote, folks.

My head hurts

Actually not sure if my head, heart, or stomach hurts worse.

Officer kills self and shoots own children

There are no words.

No Starbucks today

Evidently the Starbucks story isn't over. Today I was walking with a friend and my kids near the "old" Starbucks (that closed yesterday... sniff) and the two adults were joking about getting coffee "Oh wait, no more Starbucks, oh no!"

My boy pipes up "No Starbucks today!"

"Why not?" we ask

"No coupons!" he says.

I guess I have trained him well. That was good for a great belly laugh.

we now return to our regularly scheduled program...

We were out of town for a lot of the last month, so it's slowly back to the normal school year routine for us. Sigh.

Tomorrow my Starbucks closes at 5:30 pm. When I asked the (eccentric) barista today if there was a big party tomorrow, she said "Yup, we're having a wake and I'm bringing hummus!" In my mind I thought ~ hummus... hmm... not exactly "wake" material but OK!

It's just Starbucks... but there have been a lot of great conversations and emotions that happened in that place. I'll miss it. And I'm certainly not going to go to any of the other ghetto Starbucks within walking distance.

Goodbye, Starbucks, goodbye!