Most grocery stores today have an incentive that when you sign up with your phone number you save on in store sales, some even attach credit towards gas savings. This practice has been around for a very long time. What aggravates me is the “in store digital coupons” UGH. Why I ask do you need to do an extra step when they already have you signed in and know your personal information like your phone number and address … now you have to create a separate account using their APP in order to save on other things that also has you enter your phone, address and sometimes even your DOB. I feel bad for older people or even those who just don’t get all caught up in the digital world today. I am not one that does to tell you the truth but I will do what I gotta do to save money when it comes to that. What drives me bonkers is that I have to pay attention to other things when I shop ( like the adding items to my digital cart for coupons) when I would rather focus on browsing the store and looking at items that catch my eye instead of holding my phone and adding items to the store APP. Maybe it’s just me but what is the point to having a phone number to a store for savings and then also having to be connected to their APP for more savings- Aggravation I tell ya !

Took a trip into the city today, the sun was shinning and there was just enough clouds to make it a beautiful sky. I have not been downtown in a very long time ( 3 years I believe) The traffic was nice and smooth both there and back and that makes the trip a A+ just with that. We walked around a museum and then walked the pier. It was a little chilly outside but the sunshine was a smidge warm on our faces as the wind reminded us we are not quite into summertime just yet. It was my daughters first time to the Pier… there was not much there today but I tried to explain to her what the summer is like with all the events, people and music. She would like to go back just to see if Mom knows what she is talking about. On the way home we ended our day with a delicious meal at one of my favorite places. All in all it was a great day. Looking forward to more days like today……

Gotta love when you get into a mood where you want to deep clean your house- at least I do! The unfortunate thing about that is that it ends up costing me more aggravation and money. The more I clean and pitch out things, I want to throw everything out and start over with my entire décor of my home. I go through this process at least once a year. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could change things that easily like when I was a kid I had a toy called colorforms. They were a peel and stick kind of dollhouse I guess you could say and you designed your home one way and peeled it off and designed it a different way the next time you played. It does not help that I also love to shop for home décor and furniture when I have the time and the one thing about being on Spring Break is I have some extra time to do just that.

It feels amazing to be on a short break from my job. My daughter and I both have the same week off which is very nice and so I have a list of things I hope to accomplish.

1. Clean out closets
2. Relax
3. Get oil changed on car
4. Relax
5. Construction on basement remodel
6. Order new front door
7. Spend fun time with Mom and Faith
8. Day in the City
9. Relax
10. Order patio furniture
11. Watch a good movie
12. Read for fun
13. Enjoy deep thinking and ponder things that need time to ponder in some sunshine I hope 🙂

Having time to ourselves is very necessary in life. I don’t take enough time in silence where I can reset my thoughts and gain more positive perspectives. This time I hope will be a great time to do just that.

Today is my amazing Mom’s birthday ! I had shared in a previous slice that I had stress about buying her the perfect birthday gift- Well now that the day is here that feeling has passed and I know my mom is going to love just getting a phone call from me that tells her how special she is and how much we love, appreciate her AND Happy Birthday !

I am not as easy going as my mom, I get more worked up about things being in a certain form and fashion and I need to let that go in some ways. This week has been a bit stressful overall and now that it is Friday, the end of the work week and the sun is shining, and it is a day that I get to celebrate one of the most important people in my life, IT IS AN AMAZING day and my gift to my mom is not a big deal to stress over- she is going to love it even though it is not a trip to a tropical island. I love you mom to the moon and beyond !

I wish I knew how to attach photos to my entries but I just have not taken the time to figure it out. I will try and paint the best picture in your mind as I can….As I left for work today there they were peeking out as my first sign that Spring is on it’s way- my TULIPS !!! The deep green stems were all over my front landscaping in my flower beds. Today was the first time I noticed them, I know they were not saying hello yesterday. I love when that happens- one day there is nothing coming out of the garden and the next day you see vegetation starting to grow, flower buds on trees and bushes.

Hope is on the horizon of warmer days, vacations, long walks with dog, bike rides with my daughter, day trips with family and friends. Summer can’t come quick enough. Spring Break starts tomorrow and I am looking forward to having that time to spend with my daughter and enjoy some me time, relax, get some chores done and recharge.

My mon’s birthday is coming up in a few days and I have been trying to come up with a gift that I have not given her before in the past. I have to laugh because why am I feeling like this….my mom is so easy going and in fact she always says ” Oh Kim, don’t be getting me anything” I can get her anything and she will love it ! I wish I was retired so she and I could jet set off somewhere for the week and take in some warm sunshine for her birthday- Now that sounds like a great gift! Ugh the stress is real, I don’t like it.

I am loving the extra daylight that comes with the evening hours but I am not liking the mornings without the sunshine when I wake up. I am not a morning person to begin with and not having some sunshine to tell me it’s time to wake up makes the mornings even more difficult for me. But since the time change I have been waking up long before my alarm- UGHHH it’s the worst. The change in time has messed me up more than usual. I blame getting older on this reality. I feel like I’m losing the ability to sleep in late. I used to love sleeping till 9 or 10 on weekends and or in the summer if I wanted to but now I can’t seem to stay asleep. Maybe it’s just stress and once summer arrives I will be back to my old self, loving the days of sleeping in late. Oh I hope that is the case.

Up early

Cleaned floors

Laundry In

Woke the sleeping giant

Spent quality time shopping

Went out to lunch

Took a nap

Watched a great movie

Went for a brisk walk

All in all I think it was a great day. Sad the weekend is coming to an end but there will be another one in just a few days.

Growing up in my childhood home, we had a nice size front and back yard. In the back yard we had a huge tree off to the side and the rest was open lawn that had our swing set and room for our play pool and whatever yard games we dragged out. That was where if as kids we wanted to “play” in the yard that is where that kind of stuff happened. Our front yard was not meant to “play” in. My Dad liked having a nice looking lawn. He cut the grass once a week religiously and applied the fertilizer 4 times a year. I can still hear Dad saying in a loud voice at us kids when we would be riding our bikes up and down the driveway – ” Stay off the grass” ‘Don’t go in the grass” Dad was a bit obsessed with having a nice lawn. I remember feeling annoyed with that. I wanted to play in the sprinkler in the front yard at times or my brothers wanted to play baseball in the front- OH NO- that was not going to happen. To have the matted marks on the grass from people running on it did not make my Dad a happy camper.

Well, I soon turned into my Dad once I owned my own house. I too religiously cut my grass once a week (sometimes twice ) if we have a lot of rain. I do all the fertilizing and keep the same schedule as Dad did. When Faith was little I did let her play in the yard although being a girl she like playing on the driveway most. When the sprinkler came out I had to take deep breaths as I do not like the matted down wet grass look but only having one child and a couple neighborhood kids it did not get that bad. Still, I am just like my Dad- I like a nice looking lawn. I love coming home and seeing my lawn looking well maintained. I am obsessed. With that being said I have been able to look at my grass just about all winter as we have not gotten much snow and I can not wait to start making it green and plush. Thanks Dad.