Well I am sure you may be wondering, what does a mom of 8 do for fun? Well I wish I could answer with some off the wall tale of high flying adventures, skydiving, or rock climbing...but alas, late yesterday afternoon, my running partner picked me up at 4:30 PM and we drove to another friends house, loaded a cooler, and some chairs into the back of, yup you guessed it, a mini van, and headed off to New Cumberland (yes the adventure was in crossing the river in rush hour traffic) to a food auction.
Now... you see the fun part about the food auction, if all those in attendance understand the idea behind getting a good deal, is that you check in, get a bidder number, and then go and scope out what is on the auction block for the night.
Chips, snack foods, breakfast foods, canned goods, candy ... but the big draw the FREEZER TRUCK!!
I know.. all your hearts have just skipped a beat... what could possibly be on the freezer truck. Well unfortunately, we are not sure either. That is the big adventure!
So we find our seats, get some empty boxes for our loot, and start wait... Oh but our adult ADD kicks in so we get up, and wander to the back of the seating area, and find dinner! Now, please understand, dinner is homemade, and CHEAP! My running partner was very graciously purchased three main courses, and three cans of soda, and still got change... sorta like McDondalds.
Okay -- the excitement is building .. so close to the start, yet so far away... so we pass the time by chatting about our kids, school and our hubbies... Okay conversations stops as the auction starts!
We let them get warmed up. We throw our numbers up in the air a few times with little success... again hopeful that those in the room are going to play by our rules ---cheap cheap cheap deals... Oh good deal, 5lbs of Oranges for $3.50 ! I just bought 3lbs for $5.99 at the grocery. The deal is on..
Speaking honestly, there are times in the auction where you sit there thinking - "what am I doing here?" On this particular evening there was a great deal of candy - and while we sat through the piles and piles of candy and soda options, I texted pictures of my friend the auction virgin to her hubby, took a phone call from another friend.... purchased a drink... just killing time... the goal of successful auctioning is patience, and boy did my patience pay off last night!
So we are getting down to the end of the night - the auctioneer starts lumping odd combinations of food stuff together... mustard and sausage and clove gum... and I am preparing to leave for the evening - and then all of a sudden the pile at the front of the room starts getting bigger and and bigger - they are throwing in things like whole cases of snack foods, chips, olive oil, so I start throwing up my number... well the total of items being bid on keeps getting larger, and of course the amount of money is getting larger - I am in for $30, $35 and they keep adding stuff - $50 (out comes a case -12 large frozen pizzas) $55 - more stuff -at one point I think I even bump up my own bid... cause now even though I am trying to play this cool...this is exciting! Now they start adding other items - toilet paper, tissues, I am at $100 and the lady that is bidding against me drops out so, I think I have this deal... but alas a man in the back picks up the bidding $101. Okay... ok... lets get some perspective on this ... Cereal, toilet paper, tissues, tons of snack foods, sausage, olive oil, pretzels, bags of chips (that retail for $3.99 a bag) dish soap, hand soap... this is all stuff that my family will use! Okay $135 - $136 - I raise my hand and blurt out $150... do I hear $151...urg ..at this point I am ready to end this craziness ! $175 I say. the man says $176... this is just crazy. Oranges - 30 lbs of them added to the bounty, 20lb of chocolate milk balls, another case of Pretzels... more tissues, more toilet paper, room oder eaters, My final offer $200....
Auctioneer says $201.... $200 do I hear $201... he looks at the men on the floor and asks if there is anything else to add to the pile , a few more small things are added... $200.... going once, going twice...... last call do I hear $201 ... SOLD for $200... number 223!! Woo Hoo --- a cheer goes up from the crowd!
Well we start packing all this stuff up and realize that we now have a major transportation issue ! Lucky for me I can avoid total stranger danger, (several men from the auction house are willing for a fee to take me and my stuff home ...) as my running partner has some friends from her church there and they are able to help by loading up my 30 boxes of food stuff into their van and they are able to give me a ride home! Yea me ! and my peeps!
Here is the listing of what I got - now keep in mind that throughout the evening I had purchased the following items prior to the mother load:
2 bottles of Palmolive dish soap
1 -10 lb pork roast
2 - 5lb bags of sausage topping
2 - 5 lb bags of oranges
7 - Tony's pepperoni pizzas
8 - Red Barron 2 pack snack pizzas
1 - extra virgin olive oil
4 - bags of potato chips
1 case - 39 individually packaged cheese curls
2 bags of popcorn snack packs
3 crocks of butter
Additionally -
22 boxes of facial tissue
4 dish soaps
+1 5lb bag of sausage topping
1 case of Dijorno self rising cheese pizzas (12)
7 - 4 packs of toilet paper
20 lbs of milk balls
16 little Debbie apple pies
24 little Debbie chocolate pies
9 boxes of little Debbie gingerbread cookies
1 case of sun chips
2 packs of AAA batteries
5 loaves of bread
1 5lb container of mustard
1 bag of white cheddar cheese curls
4 bags of utz chocolate covered pretzels
4 packs of stella dora bread sticks
2 boxes of chocolate protein bars
2 boxes of beef jerky
2 containers of hand soap
96 individually wrapped cheese curl snacks
2 5 lb bags of steak fries
16 cans of pork and beans
2 boxes of Fuel cereal
7 bags of Martins Sea Salt chips
10 tubes of Easter candy
5 Bags of tortilla chips
1 jar of ranch dressing
2 jars of barbq sauce
4 bags of BBQ chips (full size)
12 bags of thin pretzels
8 bags of sourdough pretzels
4 round tubs of wheat pretzels
9 boxes (8 to a box) peanut butter cracker packs
1 case (15 bags) of ranch flavored pretzel bites
2 cases of clove gum
2 large bags of double bubble gum and candy
2 boxes of cake mix
4 boxes of instant oatmeal
30 lbs of oranges
AND... one large pink stuffed Easter Rabbit!
By my calculations - last night the Lord blessed the Lingle's with over $900 in groceries for under $300.00
$900 worth of groceries, for under $300
FUN time with my 40 something friends
No kids breaking my concentration
Ride with people that are no longer strangers
Sharing my oranges
and rejoicing in the fact that you just can't make this stuff up!
Please visit my other auction virgin friend's blog for an acount of this same food auction and the mechanics of participating in the fun of a food auction!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
My BFF
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
What a Good Mom Am I ... NOT !
Well as you all know, our house has been plauged this year with illnesses. It seems that one right after another as we have rolled through pink eye, and chicken pox, stomach flu, and sinus infections. As much as I hate that the crud won't leave our house, I am remembering that this is not the case every year, and I am thankful that the majority of the time, the majority of the house is functioning and healthy...
However, Doc seems this year to be struck by everything... (except the stomach flu...knock on wood).
This week she has been assulted by a tickle and a cough that is relentless. We have tried a variety of medicine to help her sleep and stop coughing at night - none have worked. So Tuesday, after having the day off school on Monday, and suffering through another sleepless night, I say to her... "I have something that will fix you right up...maybe?"
I proceed to dig around in the cubboard for some cough medicine that my doctor gave me when I had pnemonia, that did not work at all for me. It was a pill. I told Doc to take that , and then I followed that with a 12 hour cough medicine in liquid form, which had not been successful for her at all to this point.
Doc heads to school and then to a field trip. It is a few hours til I see her again. In she comes, yellow curls bouncing, to my office with a big cheery HI Mom! Not exactly my Doc's standard greeting. How was the field trip I ask, she indicates that it was great and that she really enjoyed watching the smoke of the incense curl and twirl into the air. (they went to a Buddist temple)
She then hops over to me and says, "my eyes are blurry, do they look blurry to you?" as she sticks her face in mine. Now I am wondering, what is going on with this girl. She is rather excitable it seems, and in a far better mood than she has been in, say for about a year?!
I ask her if she feels okay, "yup" is her reply. "Well, she says, talking very fast, I do feel funny, I am not able to stop talking and my head feels fuzzy." All the while the swish of her yellow curls bouncing with each word.
Then it hits me - the cough medicine that did not work for me, IS working for her and I also gave her the "back up" in case the pill didn't work, so I have esentially gotten my daughter high on cough medicine. Oh brother is all I can think, But instead I ask her this question, "Are you coughing?"
NOPE, not coughing at all !!
Lesson learned, try one medication at a time, and never send a child with too much medication to the Buddist temple...
However, Doc seems this year to be struck by everything... (except the stomach flu...knock on wood).
This week she has been assulted by a tickle and a cough that is relentless. We have tried a variety of medicine to help her sleep and stop coughing at night - none have worked. So Tuesday, after having the day off school on Monday, and suffering through another sleepless night, I say to her... "I have something that will fix you right up...maybe?"
I proceed to dig around in the cubboard for some cough medicine that my doctor gave me when I had pnemonia, that did not work at all for me. It was a pill. I told Doc to take that , and then I followed that with a 12 hour cough medicine in liquid form, which had not been successful for her at all to this point.
Doc heads to school and then to a field trip. It is a few hours til I see her again. In she comes, yellow curls bouncing, to my office with a big cheery HI Mom! Not exactly my Doc's standard greeting. How was the field trip I ask, she indicates that it was great and that she really enjoyed watching the smoke of the incense curl and twirl into the air. (they went to a Buddist temple)
She then hops over to me and says, "my eyes are blurry, do they look blurry to you?" as she sticks her face in mine. Now I am wondering, what is going on with this girl. She is rather excitable it seems, and in a far better mood than she has been in, say for about a year?!
I ask her if she feels okay, "yup" is her reply. "Well, she says, talking very fast, I do feel funny, I am not able to stop talking and my head feels fuzzy." All the while the swish of her yellow curls bouncing with each word.
Then it hits me - the cough medicine that did not work for me, IS working for her and I also gave her the "back up" in case the pill didn't work, so I have esentially gotten my daughter high on cough medicine. Oh brother is all I can think, But instead I ask her this question, "Are you coughing?"
NOPE, not coughing at all !!
Lesson learned, try one medication at a time, and never send a child with too much medication to the Buddist temple...
Apple I-Tunes Made $40+ off us this month
So what is the rage? Technology is great ! We have Ipod shuffles, Ipod nanos, Ipod first gen, the newest latest greatest Ipod....
Flash back to last Thursday morning. About 7 AM. The husband, a fresh cup of coffee in hand, sits at the computer to review the financial status of our family accounts. He chokes on his coffee as he reads out loud, "Apple I-tunes, $29? Swipe fee $12.00 ? Who, sputter, snort on coffee..."
A round the 8 ft table the dwarfs that are present say, "We don't know anything about it, " with wide eyed innocence. " I want all ipod delivered to this table now so that I can check histories and see who is downloading apps and music!!!"
In a musical almost sing song voice Sleepy states , "it is not me, I don't have Internet "! Dopey pipes in with "my Ipod is linked to my personal bank account, so it is not me". Doc insists that she did not purchase anything recently, and the Korean friend is excused because frankly she just looks confused by this situation.
Dad says, where is Happy's Ipod? Well Sleepy skips off to locate it, "happy" to be out of trouble on this one! A full out search goes down in Sleepy's room, and no Ipod to be found.
I think at this point it would be worth mentioning that there are never situations where a dwarf is allowed to take electronics to school, ipods, hand held video games etc... As Bashful sees the dwarfs tossing Sleepy's room, he pipes up with, "Hey I saw Sleepy slip his Ipod in his pants pocket this morning."
Well Bashful does not have the reputation around here for honesty. Often times he is caught jumping on the ban wagon of a sibling that he perceives is in trouble, happy to know that he is not, so we don't hold too much stock in what he says.
However on this day, because Dad is so mad about this charge on his account - he heads upstairs for a quick shower and change, and it may be worth mentioning at this point that is coffee is long forgotten, oh how adrenaline is a great substitute for caffeine, and heads off to the middle school that Happy attends.
Now I don't know about you, but seeing my six foot father, standing in my school office when I get called out of class, would put the fear of God in me.... but not so much for Happy.
When asked for the elusive Ipod, Happy says - "oh yea, it is home on my bed ." Dad thanks him for his time, shoos him back to class and returns home to find the missing Ipod. Dad and I spend about 10 minutes back in Happy's room. Yep, you guessed it...no IPod....
Now Dad is HOT, and I don't just mean his physical appearance. I mean he is boiling mad about this missing piece of technology -and even though Sleepy has denied downloading anything other than the free app his sister hooked him up with, someone, in our home spend some serious money the day before on the Apple Itunes website!!
I calm Dad down, sending him off to the office with the knowledge that he can investigate the charges on his account while at the office today and check with Sleepy when he gets off the bus about the Ipod.
Fast forward to 3PM. Happy gets off the bus and comes to say hello to his dad. His father in his calm way says, "Hey Happy, your Ipod wasn't at home this morning when I went back to the house to look for it." Oh Happy says, that is because it is stuck between the mattress and the frame, I hide it there so no one can take it." "Oh but it is not" says Dad, "Mom and I removed your mattress, and all your blankets and pillows in an effort to find it. Guess what? No Ipod. "
"May I see your backpack?" Suddenly Happy says, "I am not feeling good, my stomach hurts." And very well it should have since in the first pocket that Dad looks in viola .... IPOD!
As it turns out, Happy did not know what he was doing when he opened his free app. It seems that there were all kinds of options for him to download items that he needed to pay for, and since he tries to act like a normal functioning 13 year old, but is on a first grade reading level and understanding, he did not know that he was purchasing these items when he clicked yes ...nor did he know that his father keeps no additional monies in that account linked to the Apple Itunes account and that when he ordered these items there was an additional $12 fee because the account was overdrawn, an honest mistake that could have been resolved if honesty had been his standard from the beginning.
Happy has lost his Ipod for an undisclosed amount of time, has paid his father back, when he shows that he can be honest in his interactions with others, he can earn it back. In the midst o f all this, we all learned that maybe Bashful really does pay more attention than we give him credit for!
You really can't make this stuff up!
Flash back to last Thursday morning. About 7 AM. The husband, a fresh cup of coffee in hand, sits at the computer to review the financial status of our family accounts. He chokes on his coffee as he reads out loud, "Apple I-tunes, $29? Swipe fee $12.00 ? Who, sputter, snort on coffee..."
A round the 8 ft table the dwarfs that are present say, "We don't know anything about it, " with wide eyed innocence. " I want all ipod delivered to this table now so that I can check histories and see who is downloading apps and music!!!"
In a musical almost sing song voice Sleepy states , "it is not me, I don't have Internet "! Dopey pipes in with "my Ipod is linked to my personal bank account, so it is not me". Doc insists that she did not purchase anything recently, and the Korean friend is excused because frankly she just looks confused by this situation.
Dad says, where is Happy's Ipod? Well Sleepy skips off to locate it, "happy" to be out of trouble on this one! A full out search goes down in Sleepy's room, and no Ipod to be found.
I think at this point it would be worth mentioning that there are never situations where a dwarf is allowed to take electronics to school, ipods, hand held video games etc... As Bashful sees the dwarfs tossing Sleepy's room, he pipes up with, "Hey I saw Sleepy slip his Ipod in his pants pocket this morning."
Well Bashful does not have the reputation around here for honesty. Often times he is caught jumping on the ban wagon of a sibling that he perceives is in trouble, happy to know that he is not, so we don't hold too much stock in what he says.
However on this day, because Dad is so mad about this charge on his account - he heads upstairs for a quick shower and change, and it may be worth mentioning at this point that is coffee is long forgotten, oh how adrenaline is a great substitute for caffeine, and heads off to the middle school that Happy attends.
Now I don't know about you, but seeing my six foot father, standing in my school office when I get called out of class, would put the fear of God in me.... but not so much for Happy.
When asked for the elusive Ipod, Happy says - "oh yea, it is home on my bed ." Dad thanks him for his time, shoos him back to class and returns home to find the missing Ipod. Dad and I spend about 10 minutes back in Happy's room. Yep, you guessed it...no IPod....
Now Dad is HOT, and I don't just mean his physical appearance. I mean he is boiling mad about this missing piece of technology -and even though Sleepy has denied downloading anything other than the free app his sister hooked him up with, someone, in our home spend some serious money the day before on the Apple Itunes website!!
I calm Dad down, sending him off to the office with the knowledge that he can investigate the charges on his account while at the office today and check with Sleepy when he gets off the bus about the Ipod.
Fast forward to 3PM. Happy gets off the bus and comes to say hello to his dad. His father in his calm way says, "Hey Happy, your Ipod wasn't at home this morning when I went back to the house to look for it." Oh Happy says, that is because it is stuck between the mattress and the frame, I hide it there so no one can take it." "Oh but it is not" says Dad, "Mom and I removed your mattress, and all your blankets and pillows in an effort to find it. Guess what? No Ipod. "
"May I see your backpack?" Suddenly Happy says, "I am not feeling good, my stomach hurts." And very well it should have since in the first pocket that Dad looks in viola .... IPOD!
As it turns out, Happy did not know what he was doing when he opened his free app. It seems that there were all kinds of options for him to download items that he needed to pay for, and since he tries to act like a normal functioning 13 year old, but is on a first grade reading level and understanding, he did not know that he was purchasing these items when he clicked yes ...nor did he know that his father keeps no additional monies in that account linked to the Apple Itunes account and that when he ordered these items there was an additional $12 fee because the account was overdrawn, an honest mistake that could have been resolved if honesty had been his standard from the beginning.
Happy has lost his Ipod for an undisclosed amount of time, has paid his father back, when he shows that he can be honest in his interactions with others, he can earn it back. In the midst o f all this, we all learned that maybe Bashful really does pay more attention than we give him credit for!
You really can't make this stuff up!
The case of the toilet paper hidden in the drawer!
Oh boy this one is a great one! I will warn you in advance this story is a bit graphic - those with weak stomachs should probably not continue on...
About three Saturday mornings ago, in a good mood, I stroll past Grumpy's room. As I look inside, I think, it is a bit messy, but he has been trying to keep it neat, so I will help out and while he is eatting breakfast, Iwill straighten up some stray items.
I pick up some books and place them on the shelf, place his deodorant on the shelf, and then grab a handful of misc little items that would go well in his junk drawer. I pull open the drawer, and find a rolled up pile of tissue paper. Okay, this is where the weak of heart need to consider continuing on...
I pull out the tissue - to realize that it is toilet paper, covered in .... yes you guessed it, poop...URG!
I drop the paper as if it was on fire! My first response is, aside from GROSS, is are you kidding me?
What is this? I take a deep breath, call my husband, and tell him of my find. He says, relax, I am sure there is a good explanation for it. Right, I agree, a good explanation.
SO I calmly walk downstairs and tell Grumpy that he should come upstairs when he is finished with his breakfast. I go back to his room and wait for him.
He arrives and spies the wad of offensive tissue - I say "Please can you tell me what this is and WHY it is here in your junk drawer." The truth please. Speak the truth.
"Well you know the other day, he says, when I had diarrhea? Well I went to the bathroom and wiped and later when I got my PJ's on, I realized this was stuck in between my butt cheeks, so I took it out, but Dad said I couldn't leave my room, that I had to go to bed, so I put it in my drawer." To that I responded, this is the time that you chose to be obedient? Really?
His father's response "Put that boy on a road march. If he can walk around for the greater part of the day with that wad of tissue between his cheeks and not realize it, he needs to be on a diet!"
Really, you can't make this stuff up!
About three Saturday mornings ago, in a good mood, I stroll past Grumpy's room. As I look inside, I think, it is a bit messy, but he has been trying to keep it neat, so I will help out and while he is eatting breakfast, Iwill straighten up some stray items.
I pick up some books and place them on the shelf, place his deodorant on the shelf, and then grab a handful of misc little items that would go well in his junk drawer. I pull open the drawer, and find a rolled up pile of tissue paper. Okay, this is where the weak of heart need to consider continuing on...
I pull out the tissue - to realize that it is toilet paper, covered in .... yes you guessed it, poop...URG!
I drop the paper as if it was on fire! My first response is, aside from GROSS, is are you kidding me?
What is this? I take a deep breath, call my husband, and tell him of my find. He says, relax, I am sure there is a good explanation for it. Right, I agree, a good explanation.
SO I calmly walk downstairs and tell Grumpy that he should come upstairs when he is finished with his breakfast. I go back to his room and wait for him.
He arrives and spies the wad of offensive tissue - I say "Please can you tell me what this is and WHY it is here in your junk drawer." The truth please. Speak the truth.
"Well you know the other day, he says, when I had diarrhea? Well I went to the bathroom and wiped and later when I got my PJ's on, I realized this was stuck in between my butt cheeks, so I took it out, but Dad said I couldn't leave my room, that I had to go to bed, so I put it in my drawer." To that I responded, this is the time that you chose to be obedient? Really?
His father's response "Put that boy on a road march. If he can walk around for the greater part of the day with that wad of tissue between his cheeks and not realize it, he needs to be on a diet!"
Really, you can't make this stuff up!
Monday, December 27, 2010
The Case of the Missing Socks
If you don't know, there are 8 children in our home. It seems that on a regular basis, our youngest, Bashful is always claiming to be out of socks. Now, please note that Monday is Bashful's laundry day. What is a laundry day you ask? It is an assigned day of the week where one of the dwarf's gets their laundry done. Their clothing, bedsheets etc. By assigning one day to each child we are able to cut our laundry bill by 1/3 and we are able to make sure that the clothing being laundered is really dirty. (maybe your children are different than mine, but my kids are notorious for placing clean clothing in the laundry hamper because they don't want to put them away!) Shocking I know... but by assigning a day per child, I am able to concentrate on one child and what they wore over the past week.
Okay - returning to Bashful. No matter what day of the week it is Saturday or Tuesday - the boy never has clean socks - for about a month now he has been wearing mis match socks from the sock bin on the dryer where all the swinging singles go.
Friday morning we are preparing for my husband's 86 year old grandmother to come for a visit. I figured that Bashful's bed would be the easiest for her to get to and be the most comfortable for her. So I ask the boys to strip the bed. I go up to the room awhile later to remake the bed with fresh linens and as I move the bed out from the wall to get the comforter to lay nicely ( you know how older folks feel about those military corners) low and behold; to what should my wondering eye appear...
36 swinging single socks!!!
Really !! you just can't make this stuff up!
Okay - returning to Bashful. No matter what day of the week it is Saturday or Tuesday - the boy never has clean socks - for about a month now he has been wearing mis match socks from the sock bin on the dryer where all the swinging singles go.
Friday morning we are preparing for my husband's 86 year old grandmother to come for a visit. I figured that Bashful's bed would be the easiest for her to get to and be the most comfortable for her. So I ask the boys to strip the bed. I go up to the room awhile later to remake the bed with fresh linens and as I move the bed out from the wall to get the comforter to lay nicely ( you know how older folks feel about those military corners) low and behold; to what should my wondering eye appear...
36 swinging single socks!!!
Really !! you just can't make this stuff up!
Monday, December 20, 2010
An update on the illnesses that seem to be running a muck in our house!
Well Doc and Sleepy are on the mend. I would guess you could say that the pox are drying up, the itching is subsiding and as each day breaks anew, the cocoa butter continues to be slathered on their faces and arms and legs so that they can keep the scars at bay.
I am very proud of them, neither of them succumbed to the overwhelming desire to scratch except their heads... where they are sure their scars will never be seen under all that hair!!
So we as we started out the day we were excited to say that we were on the mend! However at 2 PM today, I got a call from the school where Bashful was being held in the nurses office because he had pink eye... so here we go again - two pink eyes !
Really... you can't make this stuff up!
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