Wednesday, September 24, 2008

bits and pieces Wednesday

Just a few bits and pieces of randomness...

  • Left for school this morning, already aware of projected gas shortages and on the hunt to get gas. During our school commute I pass appx. 7-12 gas stations, depending on which route I take (that depends on traffic). I passed each station and they were all empty. Just before I was going to turn around and go home, I saw one station with cars at the pumps. The price per gallon was taken off of the street marque and when I pulled in there were people standing everywhere. I found out that we'd be allowed $20 maximum per vehicle. I waited about 4 cars deep and this took about 30 min or so because they required you to pay inside the store, I was fortunate to arrive early and as I was leaving there were lines 6 and 7 cars deep waiting. Later, I found another station in a nearby town which is right down the street from our house, and I was able to top off my tank. Tonight when going to pick up my work, I noticed 2 gas stations near the Concord Mills area with police officers directing traffic.

  • Frugal find - I posted a 'want' ad on craigslist.com for a gently used sandbox. I quickly received a reply from someone who had the exact one we hoped to find for little J - in brand new condition! There was no way we were paying 70.00 for a plastic sandbox!!! I'm not big on plastic anyway, but I can't see us building any cedar sandbox in the near future in our really crappy yard. So I got it for 25.00!!!! I've been selling off some books on amazon.com and so it didn't really cost a dime. I found play sand for 2.99 a bag for 50# bags! It's fall, and he still has time to enjoy this. We decided to look around for one after the beach, he really enjoyed the sand there!

  • Addition to the frugal find.... during the time I was waiting to meet the lady to pick this up - I decided to adjust the passenger rear seat so that it fit flush against the wall. I drive a funky SUV and the back seats do tricks, you can take them out with a quick tug of a rip cord, or lay them perfectly flat then fold them up to the sides of the vehicle interior walls. This was nec. to load the sandbox. I stopped in an area where I wasn't really familiar, so I thought I'd be safe and lock the drivers door while the car was running and I was in the passenger door working on the seat...dumb me failed to remember that locking the driver door on my car locks all doors. I had locked little J in a running car!! Not funny! Thank heavens I left the passenger window about 2 inches down. I bent my arm, barely making it and reached in to unlock the door. The height of the car made this painful, and as a result I already have a black line running across my arm from a bad bruise. It hurts!! I'm just grateful that I didn't have to worry about him being in there alone and wondering what was going on!

  • We most likely will invest in a book bag on rollers for big E. He comes home with a 10-15# book bag almost daily now..... Here's a photo of him hard at work. The homework assignments take less then 30 minutes total in most all cases, and they're a quick review. It's just that the books are just bulky and heavy. I don't remember that from 5th grade! He opted out of one on wheels this year because last year he never really needed it!
  • Heard back from the lawn JERKS - that's another post all together.... stay tuned.

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