Bargain Hunting...

I was a broke college student.

I practiced snagging a good bargain.

As a mother of three boys,

and a still broke, underpaid, schoolteacher

bargains are a method of survival,

thoroughly perfected and strategically planned maneuvers.

Sometimes, the thrill of the hunt,

makes the catch all the sweeter.

And it makes your walk through

this life just a bit more fashionable,

especially when clearance is 30% off,

and free shipping of the prize.

My beautiful, waterproof boots arrived this week to greet me on a depressing Monday afternoon.  Online, on clearance, 30% off AND free shipping.  No crowds and on the cheap?  Yes, life is very good!

More than you bargained for?  Check out Melissa's blog and learn about Six Word Fridays!

Getting busy (in search of knock offs)

This weekend was the weekend. Older two boys at Grandma and Granddaddy's.

Mommy and Daddy getting busy...

...getting rooms cleared out, furniture moved, rearranged, purchased, lugged home and assembled.

All to surprise the boys that rock our world.

But of course, we hit road bumps. Like damaged, still in the package sofas. Discard collecting agencies that don't collect furniture or do collect furniture but aren't open.

Other, more mundane road bumps: neck pain, back pain, furniture dropped on toes, cuts, bruises, strained arms and legs...all kinds of shizz.

After all is said and done, rearranged and assembled, comes the decorating. For boys. Whose idea of decorating is hand drawn Quidditch fields in frames. Seriously. (And for those of you scratching your heads at Quidditch, it is Harry Potter's signature sport, which does not exist for Muggles, who are non magical people...)

Mom wants to rebel and turn at least one little corner of her world into a snapshot of a Pottery Barn catalog. Except, I haven't lost my mind yet. Seriously, $80, clearance price, for a fabulous surfboard shaped corkboard? Seriously.

Where is the Pottery Barn knock off, people? Every store on Earth has a knock off, no?

Which got me thinking...movers and decorators are not necessarily an overpriced luxury.

People with kids and bad backs (because of the kids) need their services.

If only they had knock offs....Oh wait, that's what we are, aren't we?