Good Deals

Lee was at school all day yesterday. He came home and we made a crock pot full of pork and sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is absolutely disgusting, and I won't eat it. That's too bad because it's about the healthiest thing you can eat. It helps keep cancer away and is very nutritious. Anyway, then it was time for me to take Nan shopping.

We went to the K-mart in Enola, and we found some excellent deals. I have been needing some shoes. They have a large display of very basic shoes for only $5 right now. I got a pair of black flats for work and a pair of black heels. I am going to learn to wear them just in case I ever need to wear them for a party or something. (God forbid.) (But not really, God, if You have some ideas there or anything). I found two bras for only a couple bucks each.

We also found some amazing deals on kids clothes - Kmart had a large display of onesies for only 60 CENTS EACH. I asked why they were so cheap and she said they were from last year. (I was actually only asking the air but there happened to be s helpful salesgirl nearby.) We got one of each design in a large size for Jules to wear this summer, and two in a size he can wear right now.

We got two nice polo shirts for Boo at $1.50 each.

There were no girls clothes at these prices, sadly.

We are keeping an eagle eye out for nice, slightly more preppy clothes, because it seems we may be going to Washington DC for a little bit this summer for a possible internship for Lee, and we will need to look a little nicer so we can represent Lee well.

We will be able to get whatever we don't have yet at the K-MOMs sale in Mechanicsburg on March 14th - the huge gently used kids clothing and toys sale. We have been buying there all the clothes the kids need, plus presents for Christmas, Easter, and birthdays, for the last few years. It's a really good resource.

After our adventures at Kmart, we headed to the Giant in Enola. Mostly we were just grocery shopping, but we did find Barbie Peek-A-Boos for $1.74, down from 9.99. These will be put back for Christmas.

Good deals are a hobby that Nan and I share. Nan doesn't get into the Thrift store thing as much, but between the two of us we are able to find very good prices at retail stores, especially by shopping off season.

I have to work tonight, but I am hoping Lee gets home from school early enough that I can go see my sister this afternoon.

I think I may have mention that Julius is crawling - now he is also pulling all the way up and holding onto things to try and cruise around, getting down only when he needs to cross from one thing to another.

Things Happening

Things are happening over here that are making Lee really happy and slightly stunned. Details are being ironed out. Possibilities are being raised. Lee is finding his way in the world, and I am soooooo stinking proud of him. I will post more on this as I find out more.

Right now I am making the ultimate comfort food: Cheapotato Soup. I got a back of potatoes from Nan that her work was going to throw out because they are the wrong size or shape to serve to the customers. I diced them, boiled them, and they are now cooking with a few cans of miscellaneous "cream of" soups, some random veg, and a little sour cream. YUM.

And my scrapbooking site had over 120 visitors yesterday checking out and downloading my goodies. Thanks to everyone for checking it out! Here are some examples of the kind of thing I am showing over there:

(These papers were created with brushes by Obsidian Dawn.)

Blog

Well, I have been somewhat remiss in updating my blog. Things have been really good. We went to the Farm Show two weeks ago, and that was awesome. Most we are getting back into the swing of school. Oh, and Julius is now crawling and holding onto things and standing up and trying to walk. Brat.

What's really going well, though, is Lee's school. This quarter didn't start off so well. I think Lee was pretty depressed about Christmas. We had a really nice Christmas, but it was mostly things that were given to us, from the presents that were provided by family and friends and scavenged throughout the year, to the Christmas dinner brought over and cooked by Lee's father and sister. It was actually an opulent Christmas, and I was happy enough with it.

Anyway, Lee started the quarter feeling down, but then a couple weeks ago, something just caught fire. His teacher hosted an optional, hands-on learning experience on Saturday, where the students could come in and set up a network with a bunch of different operating systems and what not. He enjoyed it so much that he is now going in every Saturday, staying late after class, etc. His teachers are impressed with him. A guest speaker from DC was impressed with him. Etc. Etc. Etc. It's hard to explain how well he is doing. He's having fun and he's happy, and that makes me happy, too.

Also, I have set up a separate blog to post the scrapbooking designs I create. I will be sharing them all for free right now, with the intention of someday growing it into a little dollar store.

Life Isn't Fair

Sarah, my beloved sister, has gone. Sarah is one of my most favorite people in the whole world. I mean that very strongly. She is talented and funny, and very interesting. In some ways, I feel like I know her so well, and then sometimes she totally surprises me. She can make me laugh like no one else in the world, about the most trivial things. Once again, I didn't get nearly as much time with her as I would have liked. She came with her husband Curtis and his darling daughter, Aurora. And now they are all gone.

Life is so unfair.

Not because Sarah and Curtis are living in San Diego, which is something like 2700 miles away. After all, if Sarah had not gone into the Navy, in her exact job, she would most likely never have met Curtis. And I like Curtis a lot. And he makes her happy. He loves her, and she loves him. So, yes, they are thousnads of miles away, but they are together. That is not why life is unfair.

And t's not because God only knows if or when we will ever see this darling little niece again. When Olivia said this morning, "Mom, do you know who I want to see? I want to se Aurora. She is so cute", it was all I could do not to cry as I tried to explain to her that Aurora has a Mommy who loves her and wants her to be with her. I mean, seriously, who wouldn't love Aurora? Through these chancy circumstances, we met her. She happens to be family. But she doesn't belong to us. I'm drying the tears now, but I know it's not unfair that a little girl go home to her mother.

It's not even because next month, my brother will be heading out to war, and my sister in all likelihood to South America to work in an orphanage. Farther away than ever, and in danger, too. But Curtis chose to be a Marine - and he's damn proud of it, and I am proud of it, too. And my sister, how could I be any prouder of her? This is who she is, and the fact that it takes her far away may be painful for me, but its not unfair.

The only thing that is unfair about all of this is that life is so beautiful that it swings people like this in our path, for however short a time. I feel blessed beyond what I deserve, that such people exist, that they are my family, and that I am lucky enough to know them. And, geez, I'm not trying to glorify anybody. I know they're just people, with plenty of flaws. But though Aurora will not remember me, I will remember her smile and it fills my heart with happiness. And my sister, and her husband, they are my friends, and they're out there and I love them. It's a blessing beyond comprehension.

"All men have the stars," he answered, "but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they were wealth. But all these stars are silent. You--you alone--will have the stars as no one else has them--"

"What are you trying to say?"

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night . . . You--only you--will have stars that can laugh!"

And he laughed again.

"And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . .

-The Little Prince, Antoine de St. Exupery