Phone Home

I got a new cell phone this week. It has kept me busy switching things over and downloading apps. The husband talked me into the upgrade. Also my last phone had ongoing issues – such as turning itself off, taking a screen shot rather than locking and being generally annoying.

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I am not usually a person with the latest phone. Even when I worked for a cell phone company and I could have any phone I always ended up with the boring, out of fashion or never quite caught on phones. Plus I don’t see the point of paying a ton of money for a phone I can’t even take into work. For 9 hours a day it is turned off in the car.

Last October when my phone went into the eternal loop and died I wanted to get the Samsung Galaxy S3. I didn’t have Galaxy S3 money. I bought a refurbished version of the same phone I had. Call it laziness. Call it being cheap. I still spent more on it than I wanted to.

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The husband was fed up with his phone even though we just got him a new battery 6 months ago. He looked around and decided he wanted the Galaxy S3. Now the husband and I look for different things in phones. We have never had the same phone, until now. We went to our provider about an upgrade. They wanted over $100 per phone. Then I remembered what a co-worker said about his upgrade a few months back – Radio Shack’s website. We ended up getting two phones for $100, plus free shipping. So now we have the same phone but in different colors. The husband almost broke the phone in less than 24 hours, so he bought a camo cover (big surprise).

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Today we listed our old phones online hoping to get a few bucks. Plus to my surprise the husband went through the drawer we have been putting all the phone do dads for years. We found 4 phones to donate to a domestic violence shelter and a bunch of chargers to take to the local thrift store (once they move).

Did I mention my favorite local thrift, the ARC Thrift Store is moving in a couple weeks? Well, they are moving to the next building over. But the whole building will have AC (not just less than half) and the rent is cheaper. I love this thrift because A) they aren’t far away, B) it’s a great cause,  C) they have awesome prices and D) the people who volunteer there are great.

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I have been going there more often lately because A) the husband keeps finding bicycles there and B) the prices are dirt cheap. This weekend I bought 40 books for $2. I was ramdomly picking them off the shelf just to get to 40. I am only keeping 4 of them for myself. As soon as I got them I used the new phone to list half of them online – the half with ISBN numbers. See, the new phone is already handy.

The husband still got the best deal. They let him have the Charlie the Tuna stuffed animal for free with purchase. 

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Lately

This rabbit keeps coming in the yard. It is not afraid of the dogs. 

A new cookbook for 25 cents.

More kitten photos. 

Mother's Day

Although I am not a mother, I do have new additions to the family this week. I knew what was about to happen when the husband came back from the neighbors house saying "You know how you've been talking about getting a kitten?" He already had a name, Midnight. 

The next day we went to the neighbors and the husband picked up his black kitten. He thought it would be good for me to get a kitten too. I was leery of picking a kitten since the last one I picked out died before he was 4 years old. The husband picked up Midnight's striped sister. She still doesn't have a name. I tend not to rush the naming process. 

So our life is now filled with crying kittens when they are hungry, watching where we step and unhappy older cats. The kittens soon progressed from being in a box, to the bedroom, to all over the house. They are fascinated by the dogs and Midnight has no fear. The husband is totally wrapped around the kitten's paws. It is adorable. 

 

We have big cups that I found for the husband. He thinks the world is made for small people and nothing comes in his size. I had to get him the big cups. He mainly eats cereal out of them. In the winter he has giant sized hot chocolate. 

So of course I had to put the kittens in the cups for photos. 

Brother and sister

Serious face

Separate cups

She is getting bored

Now Midnight is bored

A cup of midnight joe

Surprise face

Two museums in One Day!

Last week the coupons/Groupons hit again.

I bought a 4 person pass to the Butterfly and Titanboa exhibits at the Gainesville science museum - the Florida Museum of Natural History. We took the nephew and his girlfriend.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/

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I have been to the Butterfly Rainforest, but the husband had not. It was fun.The butterflies landed on the nephew. I move too much and must not smell sweet enough to get their attention.

The husband compared Titanboa to our trip to Graceland - disappointing. He thought it was a live gigantic snake. Poor husband. I would say it is not worth the regular price unless you have someone who is obsessed to giant snakes. There wasn't much to it.

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We all had fun wandering around, looking at strange bugs and past gigantic Sloths and Armadillos that roamed the land.

After the world of science we went to the Harn Art Museum next door. It was larger than I expected and had a wide variety of art. Plus it is FREE. 

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After art and nature we were hungry. I had a groupon for four people so we knew it was a day to use it. We went downtown to Sweet Mel's. 

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Most of the reason I got this deal was due to the large variety of burgers on the menu. This bar/restaurant has a eating challenge, but the husband declined. He did get the biggest burger they have - The Boss. This footlong burger comes on a hoagie roll. He definitely didn't complain about being hungry after that.

The nephew tried the mac and cheese burger. His girlfriend has the Philly Hump. I had the grill cheese burger. Although it was too much bread for a sandwich, it was definitely different. The burger was in between two full size grill cheese sandwiches. I did decide the way to take the burger to the next level would be to put bacon in each of the grill cheese sandwiches.

I also tried the Hell fries. Fries in buffalo sauce with cheese and jalapenos on top. It was good. My mouth was warm. The others had the Black & Tan Onion Rings. I tried on and they were good.

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It was a big day out for us. We finished the day off by going to ToysRUs. 

13 in 13: April Update

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1. Sell 150 items: 
21 items sold in 2013. It was a SLOW month. I posted a lot of product but only a couple nibbles. I also put half.com on hold since things barely moved. I am listing more books on ebay.

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2. Weekly Blog Posts: 
Every week and this make 7 posts!

3. Read a Book Per Month: 
Okay, I only paged through a 1970s cookbook. I bow my head in shame.

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4. Track my Food to Lose Weight: 
I haven't been tracking. I started good at the beginning of the month and then slacked off. I do have a new plan... bicycle riding. The family went from 1 bike to 4. I can't wait to show off my $5 bike (plus new parts).

5. Monthly Adventures: 
Hmmm, two car shows and two museums.

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6. Get serious about starting a family: 
Still trying. Nothing yet.

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7. Save Money: 
Savings now up to $200. This is the last week the husband pays on a bill. Yeah!!!

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8. Watch More Movies:
SWAT
Serpico
The Year of Living Dangerously
Star Booty

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9. Improve at Work: 
I increased my paperwork. The monthly report should look good for April.

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10. Take a Real Vacation: 
We stopped waiting on the oldest niece to come down since she bought a car. The husband just  the other day picked a week in June for our vacation. Now I get to plan. So far he picked Sea World since he has never been. I am building options. Caverns perhaps.

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11. Try Something New: 
I tried Hell fries. Yum!

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12. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: 
Continuing to recycle and burn all paper and cardboard.

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13. More home improvement: 
I cleaned up the front porch.