I wanted to wish all of the Mom’s out there a Happy Mother’s Day.

I found it ironic that when I picked up my newspaper this morning the headline read “Mom’s Gone, Love Remains” - a story about a family who recently lost their Mom and is experiencing their first Mother’s day without her. While we never really spent Mother’s day together due to my Mom being on the other side of the state, there was always a card and a phone call. It was just last Mother’s day that Mom was in the hospital and we were finding out that she may have cancer.

My day will be spent at the Tampa Bay Rays game, what started out as a chance to take my little Nephew to his first major league game for his birthday, turned into a sort of Mother’s day outing as well, as my Sister , her Husband and middle daughter, and Stepmom are going. Mother’s day beer and hotdogs all around!! I’m looking forward to it, I know we will have a good time. It’s always fun to experience these sort of things through a child’s eyes when it’s their first time.

Today is the annual National Letter Carrier’s Assn Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Normally, we only think about these kind of donations during the holidays. But, guess what..? People go hungry all year round…..and your local food bank needs your help.
You may have gotten a flyer and a plastic bag for your non perishables in your mailbox, I have a rural carrier, and did not get one - but that is not going to stop me from helping! I am going to take my donation to the post office, because I want to help.
All you have to do is put a few non perishables in a plastic bag or box, and leave them by your mailbox, and your mailperson will pick them up when they leave your mail.
That’s it.
I normally have an overstocked pantry because I am such a frugal shopper and combine sale prices with coupons to get things free or almost free. And, I also knwo that you read my blog and take my thrifty tips to the store with you as well! I’m sure you have an extra can of soup or green beans in the pantry that you got real cheap with a coupon, maybe an extra box of cereal or macaroni & cheese that you got at a buy one get one free sale. Do something good with your thrifty ways!!
ALL donations go to your local food bank - so you’ll be helping out a neighbor who needs it! Food banks are having a tough time right now, donations are down, and the number of people needing that extra help is way up. Regular middle class people. Like you and I. Going to food banks to help fill in the gaps because prices are so high right now they have to make a choice between feeding their family and putting gas in the car so they can go to work.
If everyone gave just TWO cans of food it could fill your local pantry back up. Just 2 cans…you can do that, right?

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I am now officially taking almost as many pills as Snoopy! NON-Prescription of course. I had a doctor visit this week, where my blood test revealed I am HypoThyroid - I was VERY wary of going on an RX for it, as I had read some horror stories on the web about side effects (Doctors probably HATE that we have access to so much information these days, but I like to scare educate myself!). Luckily, my Doctor was okay with not immediately putting me on a drug - she suggested a few things to adjust in my diet and we re-check my blood in a month as it could be stress related since I have no other symptoms. So, I need to eat more iodine rich foods, and salt my food as well (I have never been one to shake salt on my meals, there isn’t even a salt shaker on my table!) You can get Iodine from Broccoli, Brussels (yuck), Limas (yuk), shellfish, seaweed (Yes on my Sushi - but NO plain!), cheese, eggs….ICE CREAM (YAY - Doctor’s orders!! LOL) …

I am now taking Reacted Calcium, and Vitamin D - as I was deficient in those as well.
I also already take a womens daily multi vitamin, organic flaxseed oil pill, Vitamin B6, fiber pill…….I may have to graduate to a bigger juice glass to get all of these down in the morning!!

I would much rather adjust my diet and take a few more vitamins than go on a prescription!

So, my friend D was talking about how expensive groceries are these days, let’s face it, we’re all talking about the high price of milk and such……here’s a little FREE to help ease up on your food bill:

FREE sample of Colgate Max Fresh with breath strips here.

FREE Purina One dog or cat food for your pet here.

Speaking of your pet, go here and take the Give a Bowl quiz to get a $4 off coupon for Purina!

High prices making your stomach hurt? Here’s a coupon good for $2.25 off Tums Quick Pak!

And, don’t forget to sign up for Revolution Money Exchange by May 15 and get your FREE $25 sign up bonus! That will help ease the grocery bill! Use my green button on the sidebar and I get $10 for referring you, so you will help my grocery bill as well!! ———>

Eric Clapton opened up the US portion of his 2008 North American/European Tour right here in Tampa last night. I can sum up the show in one word.

Wow.

2 solid hours of the most incredible guitar playing I have ever witnessed. Anyone who came to last night’s show expecting to hear all of his rock classics, did not get that - what they did get was a night full of the blues, with a few rock classics mixed in:

01. Tell The Truth
02. Key To The Highway
03. Hoochie Coochie Man
04. Little Wing
05. Double Trouble
06. Don’t Knock My Love
07. Outside Woman Blues
08. Nobody Knows You
09. Rockin’ Chair
10. Motherless Child
11. Travelling Riverside Blues
12. Running On Faith
13. Motherless Children
14. Little Queen of Spades
15. Before You Accuse Me (Acoustic)
16. Wonderful Tonight (Acoustic)
17. Layla
Encore:
18. Cocaine
19. Crossroads (with Robert Randolph)

Like any good man, every time I see him, he is better than the last, and I always walk away wanting more.

And, if you have never heard any of his blues albums, I highly recommend you get one. From the Cradle is a good start.

Before I head out to the Eric Clapton show today I had to run all of my errands.

1st stop: FREE Comic Book day at my local comic book store, where I picked up THIRTEEN free books!! HA!! SCORE!! My little nephew is going to be quite thrilled to find this in his birthday gift! I also got to met Phil Hester, inker for Green Arrow, and had him sign 2 of my Green Arrow graphic novels!

On the way home, I stopped at CVS, as I have a $3 off $15 that was going to expire :

Picked up the Colgate 360 toothbrush deal -
$3.99
-1.00 manufacturer’s coupon
- 3.99 Extra Bucks back
= FREE PLUS OVERAGE!

Betty Crocker Warm Delights (Mmmm Chocolate Fudge Cake!)
2 @ $1.99 each
-.75 manufacturer’s coupon
-.40 manufacturer’s coupon
- $1 Extra bucks back on 2
= .92 each!!

This is a good day, the only thing better would be if I could sell my Mom’s travel trailers, which is sitting behind Sisters house waiting to be bought!! My craigslist ad is getting me nowhere.

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I have been considering a laptop purchase for some time now. As with all biug ticket items, I do my research up front, then watch the sales, and then make a decision if it is something that I really NEED, and not just a want. What brand, how muchlaptop memory would I need, what acessories do I get with it? It would be convenient to have one, so I could blog and stuff while I was away from home. It would have been GREAT to have when I was spending so much time over at Mom’s and had to keep going to the library to check emails and such. For now, it is still a want, since I already bought my new HDTV, I don’t think I’ll be making a big ticket purchase anytime soon.

Get your freebie on!

Mmmm..FREE coffee, my favorite! Get a FREE sample of Dunkin Donuts to brew at home!

Know any expectant Mother’s? Send them here to get some YoMommy Organic Yogurt from Stonyfield Farms!

FREE 14 day supply of Nature Made Softgel vitamins here!

And, don’t forget about all of the ice cream freebies posted over at my Nephew’s blog!