Illegally Sighted

Techno Tuesday – Rethinking Structure On Blogs

A couple weeks back I thought having a structured blog topic would be a GREAT idea. I thought it would help people find things easier, it would make the blog look cleaner and not so random.
You know what?
I AM random! I don’t think in an orderly fashion. I don’t think about certain things on certain days. I write about what I want when I want to. Some things just may happen to be on the same day each week. But for the most part I like my semi chaotic thought process!
So I’m reworking this whole structure thing. I’m still keeping some of my set days.
Wordless Wednesday
Fitness Friday (which will move once my fitness blog is up)
Savings Sunday

I guess this is normal? Blogs and their writers are ever changing. I want to make sure I still want to write this after a year, 2 years, and so on. If I get bored with a rigid schedule I’m not going to keep up.

QUESTION – What do YOU think about structured blogs with a set schedule?

Magical Monday Is Now Monday m Time!

I’ve changed the name of the Moday blog post to Monday Me Time! This has been done for one reason, because I can! I don’t know why but it came to me in a dream for the past couple nights to change around the blog topic names. So it’s done.

Today’s post is a picture post of the “Shawl of Doom.” Those of you who follow me on Twitter know I’ve fussed with the Seraphina’s Shawl pattern for a good long while. I have tried my luck with 3 different types of yarn and only this last round has worked out. Using a non bumpy/tangly/splitty yarn has helped what little sanity I have left! We all know I’m a crazy hooker (Not THAT kind lol I mean the crochet kind!)

So today I proudly show off my progress on the shawl I lovingly call the “Shawl of Doom!”

I've finally started to figure it out!

Savings Sunday – Saving Receipts

I’m sure this is common knowledge to some but i feel the need to talk about it today. It happened to me and I’m sure it’s happened to some of you.

The other day I went and purchased a car charger for my phone. I was so excited to get it open (read so desperate to charge my phone,) that I ripped into it then threw everything that wasn’t the charger away. I happily plugged in my phone and I was not left disconnected!

So now you’re going “well that’s pretty sweet but what does this have to do with Savings Sunday?” Admit it I know you’re thinking it!

This has to do with this great day because 2 days later I find my charger has been put on sale! It’s around $10 cheaper than what I paid for it. I got really excited at this point. Most stores have a price guarantee that states if the item goes on sale within so many days, you can be refunded the difference.

I jumped for joy, grabbed my charger and went to my purse to check for my recei…oh crap! I forgot that i threw away the receipt and packaging!!! I hurridly hauled my big butt out to the trash and started digging through it like a rabid dumpster diver. The realization hit me that I threw the stuff away AT THE STORE!!! What the heck was I thinking? I apparently wasn’t thinking!

I made an attempt to go to the store and I ended up being one of “those type of shoppers.” I told the customer service person that I threw out my receipt but that they could check the system because I used a debit card. Of course i was told they wouldn’t do this. The policy is clearly posted. I then get a little whiny and ask if there’s ANYTHING they can do. I get the “I’m sorry but without a receipt there’s nothing we can do,” response.

So I take the walk of shame out of the store, kicking myself as I go.

I have not adopted a system of receipt saving that should keep me out of this mess. I have a small file that i put all my receipts in at the end of the day. When the week is over I shred the ones that aren’t necessary. i keep those that have large purchases or things that can be returned within a certain time frame on them. This way if I ever DO need the receipt for something, it’s there safe and sound.

Question – What’s your “holy crap I can’t believe i did that” story?

Fitness Friday – Trying To Figure Out Where To Start

Here I go again. I’m ready to lose the weight. I know I’ve said it before. I know I’ve said i’ve meant it before. But was I really ready? Probably not. Am I ready now? I really REALLY want to say yes.

I’ve half assed planned how i was going to lose weight before. I joined websites, created food trackers, planned exercise routines that I KNEW I would never stick with. I want to change all of that right here and now.

My first goal is to start eating healthy. I don’t want to “go on a diet.” I hate that term. It seems like that’s instant failure right there. I want to change my way of eating. But how? Where do you start when you live in a house full of people that say “Why should I stop buying what I want to eat just because you’re dieting?” It’s a test of willpower and I KNOW I need to improve my grade on that particular test.

I went to the store today and got a few groceries. Some sandwich thins, fruits and smoothie fixings and lunch food for work. I’ve found the lower calorie way to make a smoothie in the morning that fills me up at least through my first break. I have an idea of what I’ll take for lunch so that I am eating healthy but still feeling full.

These aren’t my main problems though. It’s once night time rolls around! What do I do about the severe night time food cravings? How do I manage these?

This is my health goal #1 for the wek. My 2nd goal is to get in to the gym and sign up. I have said I was gonna do it all week. I never “got around” to it. No more of that! I NEED to do this.

I’m going to get back on Spark People and start tracking my food. Not paying attention to the stats at first. I just want to create the habit of tracking my eating. Once I have my gym membership I will be heading out to aqua aerobics at least twice a week and trying a spinning class once a week. Yoga will come twice a week.

But it’s baby steps I need to take.

Question – What are your healthy eating and fitness tips?

Stranded At The Casino (or How i Found The Cheese Fries!)

: Image via Wikipedia

Today I went with my mom and her 2 bingo buddies out to the Harrah’s Casino at Rincon. I haven’t been to a casino since I left Las Vegas and I was a little excited. I didn’t have all that much money to spend and I really am not a fan of gambling. I would much rather put my money where i know i’ll get something in return, you know…like at the bar! It would be neat if the bartender could press a button to simulate slot machine winning sounds when you received your drink though.

Anyway, we got there and decided to get some grub. The cafe was busy, the service was half-assed and the food was…eh. I wasn’t gonna let all that stop me from having a good time. I wasn’t planning on gambling. I was just going with my mom for moral support. I brought my crochet, an audio book on my phone and scouted out the spa (just in case!)

I stuck around my mom and her friends for a little while. I started to get bored pretty soon though. There is only so much a girl can take of “OHMIGOSHIJUSTWON!” then “OHMIGOSHIJUSTLOST.” I decided to head for the soda machine then find a comfy place to sit and crochet.

This turned into an adventure.

I headed in the direction I THOUGHT the soda machine was. Somehow i ended up right back where i started. I asked my mom again where the machine was. She pointed me once again in the direction of the machine and i set off to find it once more.

I found my way back to my group AGAIN! I was making a wrong turn somewhere but I just couldn’t figure out how.

I figured I wasn’t seeing something right so I asked a slot attendant where the machine was. The lady was super nice and walked with me. SCORE! Free Diet Pepsi.

I turn around and realize i have no idea where I’m at.

I ended up finding them again and informed them I was going to head to the lobby to crochet. I was then informed that THEY KEPT MOVING!!! This is how I kept coming back to them instead of the soda machine.

We all had a good laugh and all was well. But, if the ladies read this (somehow doubtful) just KNOW I will get you back!

I then grew bored of the crochet and people watching that I was doing in the lobby. I had around 5 women come up to me and say “Are you crocheting? You’re so young!” I don’t know what that had to do with anything but apaprently I was informed that “Young people these days just don’t understand crafts and how rewarding they can be.” Apparently these women don’t know what the internet is and how many amazing crafters there are around my age!

I decided it was time to check out the gift shop. Among the $299 Gameboy DS, the candies, souvinier micro buses and bottled soda i found this gem…

...andi thought this was a family establishment!

Entertaining yes?

So now I’m exhausted and I have decided that I’m not doing the California casino thing EVER again. I’ll see you tomorrow for FITNESS FRIDAY!

QUESTION – What’s your most random experience at a casino?

Wordless Wednesday New Glasses

Magical Monday – Craftiness Is In The Air

I haven’t had a lot of time to work on my crafts lately. Work and school have eaten away that precious crafting time that I hold so dear.

Recently I have been able to work on a few things. Today I don’t have pics but I should have them by weeks end. Thanks to a loving furbaby in my house I have a camera cord and yet I can;t seem to find the thing. I’m guessing it got snatched when I was cleaning up the desk area.

I’ve been working on what I lovingly call the “Shawl of Doom.” I am notorious for not finishing crochet projects. I have had 3 attempts at the Seraphina’s shawl pattern. 1 with homespun, 1 with boucle and 1 with some real thin yarn that seriously made my head hurt when I realized I’d gone through a ball of it and have a shawl made for a barbie so far!

I decided to grab a nice green skein of Vanna’s acrylic yarn and have one last go at the pattern. I couldn’t be the problem with it it HAS to be the yarn! I was right it’s the yarn. I should have listened to everyone that told me that a bumpy yarn will drive me insane when crocheting with it.

Next on my agenda is to put together some jewelry. I have a few car protection pieces to do and maybe a few necklace and bracelet sets. I want to learn how to correctly make a wire loop and I can then start making earrings that don’t fall apart.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week. Don’t forget to check out the giveaway here that will end Thursday!!

Savings Sunday – Some Tips I’m Putting Into Practice

: Image via Wikipedia

I’ve been reading a lotabout budgeting and savings. I want to be prepared for this holiday season so I’m thinking about it now. Last year I was so ill prepared that i had as many half made craft projects lying around as I do pairs of flip flops. Those of you who know me certainly know that I have a strange love affair with flip flops so that should tell ya something!

First off I will be putting $84 away per month. By the time it’s shopping time this should leave me with a pretty good chunk of change This will help me to get those odds and ends that I am going to add to my handmade gifts.

I am also starting early with my crafting. While it may look like the best craft sales are around holiday season it’s not the case. Craft chain stores KNOW that people procrastinate and they also KNOW that most crafters will purchase those forgotten items they desperately need no matter what the cost.

Closer to the holidays I am going to make my menus. This will be the first full holiday season I will spend with my family in 2 years. If all goes well (meaning my mother lets me do ANY cooking!) I will have the menu planned and can start shopping the sales as they hit.

I think I have a pretty good start. What do you think?

On a side note I am combining Thrifty Thursday and Savings Sunday. I’ll keep the posting to a Sunday since that’s when the majority of the ads come out.

My question to you is What are your pre holiday planning and savings tips?

Weekly Wrap Up

There’s no shout out this week but keep your ears and eyes open to see what i have in store for the coming weeks!

This week has been a really hectic week. I have been running around with my mom helping her get things in order to purchase a car. Luckily the only reason we had to go to an actual car dealership was to test drive the cars she was looking at.

The salesboy (he had to be about 20.) made me laugh though. He sat there and admitted that he had gotten every ticket in the book. This was all while he was putting his seatbelt on halfway through the test drive! At that point I asked him who’s ticket it would be if we got pulled over during the test drive because he hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt. He didn’t know. I told him he could have it so that he would have “every ticket in the book” plus an extra for good measure.

I also got my grades back on my Sociology class. I did manage to get a C. I am truly unamused by this. The little perfectionist in my head is kicking me screaming that she wants out. Then there’s the little slacker in there jumping for joy that i managed a C. It’s a constant fight between those 2. I plan to let ther perfectionist prevail next semester. She will! She has to!

Some of you may think “Well a C is passing, it’s a decent grade.” But really it isn’t. If I want to get into the school i want when I’m done with all of this city college level work I must start pulling B’s and A’s not C’s!

A night in with the girls last night and a Lughnasadh ritual tonight will complete my lovely week. Overall it was a pretty good one. Next week should be even better!

Thrifty Thursday – Free WiFi Anywhere!

I will continue the posts about budgeting next week. I almost have mine together and all figured out. It’s just been hard to figure out. My living situation throws off my budget sometimes.

For today’s Thrifty Thursday I have something for everyone who wishes they could hop online when they’re out and about doing their daily errands, going to school or work. It’s free WiFi!!!

There are so many places that charge crazy prices to use their WiFi services. But with this website http://www.wififreespot.com/ you don’t have to worry about that anymore.

First you pick your state. Scroll to the city you will be3 in and read through all the places that offer the free WiFi. In my experience it is a good idea to call and make sure that the place is still offering the service. Nothing like getting somewhere and setting up just to realize you’re not going to be connected!

I would also recommend reading the FAQ section found here. It will give you important information on things to consider when using a free WiFi hots pot.

After surfing this site I found that the Downtown Fullerton area has a free WiFi signal within a certain number of blocks. This is great news since i go to school near there and often eat and get coffee around the campus.

What are your Thrifty Thursday tips? Comment here and I’ll pick one person’s tip to feature in next weeks’s Thrifty Thursday post!

Techno Tuesday – Rethinking Structure On Blogs

Magical Monday Is Now Monday m Time!

Savings Sunday – Saving Receipts

Fitness Friday – Trying To Figure Out Where To Start

Stranded At The Casino (or How i Found The Cheese Fries!)

Wordless Wednesday New Glasses

Magical Monday – Craftiness Is In The Air

Savings Sunday – Some Tips I’m Putting Into Practice

Weekly Wrap Up

Thrifty Thursday – Free WiFi Anywhere!

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