Now That I Broke Up With College, I Can Date My Coupons Again

MY GREATEST ADDICTION IS BACK!

I just spent an hour planning for next week's shopping trip, it's going to be epic! 

Man, if I had put as much work into my studies as I do to this... nah, I would have had the same grades. I actually tried hard this semester. 

Heeeeyyyy Macarena!

Technology is acting up in the office today, and I was too busy facebooking to notice until I heard the following from Dale:

"I can't get into Quickbooks, Johnette can't get into Quickbooks, my computer is frozen... there's only one thing to do! Dance the Macarena!....... And then I need to go to the bank." 

And he pulls up and plays the Macarena song right on cue! Hahaha it was one of those "had to be there" moments.

Cleaning: Not Just My Coping Mechanism

P left for Houma, LA early this morning and we have no idea how long that job will last. He might be home for Christmas, or he might not... who knows? Although I am mentally prepared for the bitterness of having him gone most of December, I also need a way to cope.
The year I lived with Loni she quickly figured out that I often cleaned when I was upset, and she would kindly ask me if there was anything she could do. It was not until then that I realized cleaning was my coping mechanism.
Naturally, 20 minutes after the rumbling of P's truck had dissipated, my entire apartment was vacuumed.
 [Actually, let me make a tangent to exclaim just how AMAZING my new Dyson vacuum is. I ordered the cheapest one Best Buy had and I couldn't be any happier. It's a tiny, battery powered, lightweight thing with the craziest suction power. Upon using it for the first time, I was both appalled and astounded at how much dog hair was sticking to 10 square feet of carpet. I had to stop there because 1) it was already full of too much dog hair and 2) P was watching TV and refused to be interrupted to jump up and down with excitement about a vacuum. Dyson DC44 Rating: Awesome]

So back to my point, I super-vacuumed everything as soon as P drove off. And then proceeded to clean the kitchen, fold laundry, wipe down surfaces, put P's leftover tools away, and find other reasons to use my Dyson, such as sucking dust out of the AC vents. Worked like a charm.

My second coping mechanism: blogging. Here are my reasons as to why keeping a clean house makes me feel better about everything.

1. It is pleasing to sit in a clean, orderly room. 
2. Cleanliness attracts cleanliness and vice versa. If the place is a mess... I'll make more mess. If it's clean, then I'll want to keep it clean. 
3. Things don't get lost. I have a big rule about having a "home" for everything in the house, plus having one junk drawer per room. It totally works. 
4. Blank slates spawn creativity. For example, when all the dishes are clean and put away, and the fridge is nice and organized I feel like cooking. When my desk is clear of clutter I feel like writing or doing homework. When my clothes are all washed and put away I feel like trying harder than a "jeans and a t-shirt" look. 
5. It reduces my stress level. I've noticed that when I tidy up one room then I want to spend more time in that room and avoid the messy places of the house. That's because I feel more relaxed when I am in a clean environment. 

Alright, so there. With P gone my apartment is so clean and quiet that even Venom is lounging about instead of hyperactively chewing on toys. Now that this blog post is done and there is nothing else for me to clean, I must finally get to working on my awfully long take-home final exams. Ugh. 

Tide Pods: Return of the Coupons

After my 5-month coupon hiatus, I have returned with a vengeance. Well... not really, it's not that extreme, but I did get a crazy good deal on Tide Pods this past week. Oh, and I snagged up some Listerine mouthwash for good measure... they were free with ExtraBucks. So here's last week's deal at my beloved CVS:

Day One, Store 1: [I went to 2 stores so I wouldn't clear shelves]

• 2 Listerine Mouthwash
• $4.99 sale price
• Used $5 off $10 Mouthwash CVS coupon
•  CVS promo: Spend $10, get $5 ExtraBucks
• 4 Tide Pods, 14ct
• $3.94 sale price
• used 4 $2/1 Tide Pods MC from 11/16 newspapers
• used CVS email coupon "$5 off $15 in-store purchase" 
• Total OOP for Day 1 was $8
• And gained $5 in ExtraBucks

Day 2, Store 2:

• 4 [more] Tide Pods, 14ct
• $3.94 sale price
• used another 4 $2/1 MC from 11/16 newspaper
• Total OOP for Day 2 was $8.00
• And gained a $10 CVS gift card: Spend $30 get $10 GC on select PG products

SavingStar: 

• SavingStar is an awesome website for couponers! There is currently a Spend $30, get $10 refund on select PG products.
• Make sure you connect your CVS account first! 
• Received $10 Payout from SavingStar

In Review:

• Spent $16 OOP
• Received $5 ExtraBucks for Mouthwash
• Received $10 CVS Gift Card for spending $30 on Tide Pods
• Received $10 SavingStar Refund for spending $30 on PG products
• TOTAL: $9.00 MONEY MAKER! 

Note to Self: You're Adultier Than You Know

Right at this instant I am having a ridiculous realization: I'm officially a grown up. You know how I figured it out? I was sitting at my desk visiting random websites out of boredom and I happened upon Best Buy's 47-page Black Friday Ad.
I clicked through the first 40 pages with a disgusted, kind of bitchy voice in my head going "why do people waste money on all this crap?" and "think of all the useful things you can do with $999 instead of getting a TV" and "I wouldn't want that in my house even if it was free!" and "People give up their Thanksgiving dinner to fight each other in the store for thiiis??" 

I was completely and utterly unimpressed and unexcited until I reached page 41. And then my mind went "Oh my gosh, appliances! $1,700 is such a good price for that fridge!" [Of course, there's no way I'm getting a fridge; I live in a tiny apartment and would have a nearly-impossible time getting something that big through my front door, let alone store it somewhere.]
And then, I clicked to page 45 and did a happy dance because "Oh my gosh, vacuums! I've been looking for a good deal on vacuums for so long!!" 
[Seriously y'all, any (and I mean ANY) Dyson under $300 is a steal.]

And so then I took a step outside my body and looked at myself for a second. What I saw was this: I have totally moved past the "I need expensive consumer electronics to feel good about myself" stage and am now living the "I must make my nest clean and beautiful because I'm a grown-up and a plastic tote is NOT a laundry hamper" stage. So yeah, go Me!

Phil VS Sleep

Since P has been out in NJ for the past few months, the chances I get to hear him talking in his sleep have diminished to almost nothing. However, I recently saw something funny happen. On his first night back home, he had not slept in about a day and a half, but we had so much to talk about that he insisted on staying up so we could finish our conversation. Here's how that went:

(after closing a conversational subject)
Me: (sitting by him on the bed) Ok, you should go to sleep now.
P: (laying in bed) But I'm not tired anymore, I'm going to watch TV in the living room.
Me: Just go to sleep, I want to read a book in the living room.
P: But I'm not tired.
Me: Stay still for 5 minutes and I promise you'll fall asleep.
P: I'm not sleepy. 

I decided I was too sleepy for book reading, so I got off his side of the bed, walked to my side, took my glasses off, and laid down.
Time elapsed: 10 seconds.

By the time I fluffed my pillows and turned off the light, I looked over and P was 110% asleep. Mr-I'm-Not-Tired took all of 10 seconds to slip into a coma. He asked me the next morning how long I had been out reading in the living room because he hadn't felt me "come back to bed".

Above The Water

These days I'm really struggling to keep my head above the water. Or maybe my nose, because my neck is at times very much submerged.

I was raised by parents who placed a big importance on education. They were not the "tiger parents" who constantly pushed for better than my absolute best, but they did keep a close watch every report card and questioned me for anything lower than a 90. When High School came along, they melted into the background and pretty much let me handle my school work because I expected a lot better from myself than they did.
In HS, every point made a difference. All that mattered to me was how high my GPA could get, because graduating in the top 5% of my class was the driving force and ultimate motivation.
[There are unresolved psychological issues at play here, all I cared about was "walking the line" first during graduation and avoiding the alphabetical order issue which had plagued me my entire life because my last name started with the letter Z. Anyway, it did the trick. I was #16 in a class of 500.]

So I just wanted to mention and let it be clear that I am of slightly above-average intelligence, and that the "ok" grades have and always will be A's.
Given this information, please digest the following:
At this point in my educational career, I would be happy with C's. 
Learning is pretty tough at the moment. I am struggling to keep my head above the water. I have a persistent, internal, disapproving frown directed at myself because I can't seem to do better, and combined with other "life" factors [aka P being gone all the time] I have caught myself thinking pretty depressive thoughts.
One random day not very long ago, during one of my "sad because life+school=sucks" moments, I received a phone call from my dad.
[Priesthood power and revelation is a seriously wonderful thing]
We talked for a maximum of 3 minutes, but he sure knew what to say. He doesn't know that I am having my "moments", all I said was "school? well... school is a lot harder than I thought it would be". His response? "Keep your spirits up. Not anyone achieves this."  (Animo hija, esto no cualquiera lo logra)

Thanks, dad. I have been repeating those words on a daily basis, and they truly are helping.
I am nowhere near close to a Master's degree yet... but I know that day will come with enough persistence and determination. And it's true, not everyone achieves it.