It's no secret I love food. I love going grocery shopping. I love
cooking and baking. I love to eat. When I am traveling for the holidays
or just in general, it's all about the food. We used to bring snack bags
on trips with us. My Grandma Rose always made the best snack bags. She
would have one waiting for us and have one for us to take with us on the
way home. It was one of my favorite things. I would give anything to
have one right now. When Noah was about three, I started making Noah a
snack bag for when we travel. It is a great way to give him healthy
choices while saving money. Buying snacks every time we stop is not
practical or affordable. The choices are not the best and well Noah is
extremely picky. I have to make sure while we are traveling for the
holidays, he has good choices for snacks and drinks. Gas stations don't
really offer much when it comes to kids' drinks. He likes some juice and
keeping gas station milk ice cold can be challenging even with a
cooler. I am teaching him about healthy foods and that treats are fine
in moderation but when you only have junk as a choice something needs to
be done.
Be sure to read this post about what I put in our Holiday Snack Bag for Travel
Showing posts with label Grandma Rose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grandma Rose. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2014
Sunday, October 12, 2014
I Love Playing Slot Machines
One of the many things I inherited from my Grandma Rose is my love to play slot machines. When she visited my aunt and uncle in California, they always went to Reno. My Grandma Rose liked to play the nickel slots and if you knew her it was funny because she didn’t seem like a gambling woman. She was very Catholic and an amazing person. My aunt and uncle gave her a toy slot machine. I played with it all the time. We went to visit them and I remember going to Circus Circus when I was 16 to just check it out and I was mesmerized by the Free Play Twin Spin Slot Machine. I wasn't old enough to gamble but I loved looking at them spin and seeing people win. I knew that when I was old enough I would play the slots someday.
After I turned 21, I went to the casino a few times. After I became a mom, I couldn't take off to a casino very easily. So I went online and play on sites like www.starburst-slot.co.uk to get the thrill of a win. If you know how much I love my jammies you know playing in them is exciting. I don't have to go anywhere. I can play anytime and I can do it from bed. All I have to do is press and there is no crowd of people, there is no smoke filled rooms or people trying to take your machine.
After I turned 21, I went to the casino a few times. After I became a mom, I couldn't take off to a casino very easily. So I went online and play on sites like www.starburst-slot.co.uk to get the thrill of a win. If you know how much I love my jammies you know playing in them is exciting. I don't have to go anywhere. I can play anytime and I can do it from bed. All I have to do is press and there is no crowd of people, there is no smoke filled rooms or people trying to take your machine.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Extreme Couponing Helping Others Edition
When
I first heard of extreme couponing, I thought that this crazy. Who
needs all that stuff?? How many bottles of ketchup does a family need?
The more I thought about it lately I thought I would like to be an
extreme couponer to help feed hungry families. Not just families with
kids but families with older people too. They often are lost in the
shuffle. Older people are just important. A lot of them are on extremely
fixed income and can't afford enough food. I would love to help them
too. I wish that extreme couponing was real. Something normal people
like I can do. I am great at couponing, but at the same time there are
strict rules. The extreme couponers have ruined it for me to be able to
do something like this.
Today we went to the zoo. We saw a woman who had a sign that said she was homeless and hungry. My friend gave her a couple bucks. My friend told me it was probably going to drugs and alcohol. I said maybe but we just have to hope that she will really use it for food. It made me sad that she was out there. Honestly, I have no idea what her motives were. I said to her God Bless You. I said a little prayer for her and hoped for the best. It's not just people that have signs that are hungry. It's our friends, neighbors, people down the street you just may not know. It is embarrassing to admit. I would love to be able to help them.
Unfortunately I can't afford to help like I want to. There's my grandma Rose in me coming out. She started a soup kitchen who has fed hundreds of thousands of people. There has to be a way I can do something. My Grandma Rose found a way maybe I can too. Maybe I became a blogger to help those who are hungry. I work with companies so maybe somehow. Maybe I could see if they could donate coupons for free products to help. I would think that would be the best because I don't really have the space to store a ton of stuff right now. That way I could put together packages as they are needed. I could throw in coupons if it is a freezer item or perishable item. I would call it Rose's Kitchen in honor of my grandma Rose who would never let anyone go hungry.
Today we went to the zoo. We saw a woman who had a sign that said she was homeless and hungry. My friend gave her a couple bucks. My friend told me it was probably going to drugs and alcohol. I said maybe but we just have to hope that she will really use it for food. It made me sad that she was out there. Honestly, I have no idea what her motives were. I said to her God Bless You. I said a little prayer for her and hoped for the best. It's not just people that have signs that are hungry. It's our friends, neighbors, people down the street you just may not know. It is embarrassing to admit. I would love to be able to help them.
Unfortunately I can't afford to help like I want to. There's my grandma Rose in me coming out. She started a soup kitchen who has fed hundreds of thousands of people. There has to be a way I can do something. My Grandma Rose found a way maybe I can too. Maybe I became a blogger to help those who are hungry. I work with companies so maybe somehow. Maybe I could see if they could donate coupons for free products to help. I would think that would be the best because I don't really have the space to store a ton of stuff right now. That way I could put together packages as they are needed. I could throw in coupons if it is a freezer item or perishable item. I would call it Rose's Kitchen in honor of my grandma Rose who would never let anyone go hungry.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Must Have Tips for Caregivers and Finding them too.
My Grandma Rose was an amazing woman. She always had heart
problems. She had her first bypass surgery in 1979, and didn’t have another one
for sixteen years. You are only supposed to go ten. She was very independent
and strong. My grandpa passed away in 1993 and she lived alone for seven years.
She always had visitors, especially me. We were best friends. I would go to visit her
almost every other weekend, even when I was older. We always had a great time. I would go everywhere with her, even when she
was an honorary pall bearer at a funeral for a fellow Catholic Daughter. Eventually
she had Alzheimer’s disease, and could no longer live without someone around. I moved in with her for a while to make sure
she took her medicine, ate, and that she didn’t wander off. My aunt lived close
by too, in case she needed anything. It
was very hard for everyone involved. It was hard because you have to watch
someone you love deteriorate mentally. We
had become her caregivers. Genworth has a great article about how the caregiver’s
lives are rerouted and all the changes you have to make.CNN reports a growing trend of people caring for aging parents or in this case, grandparents.
I know that as one of the main
caregivers, I wasn’t able to work outside of the home and I had to spend less
time with friends. At the beginning I even moved away from everyone to be there
for her.I knew that it was the most important thing for me to do at the time.
She was in an assisted living place for a while; we had some
concerns about other residents being rough with my grandma. We took her out of
there. We heard on the news a woman in her unit was able to escape and froze to
death in their courtyard. This was after
she moved in with us. We continued to take care of her; I would make sure she
had whatever she needed while my mom was at work. It was a full time job. I
didn’t mind because this was my best friend and she took care of me when I was
little. We kept her with us as long as we could until her health started to deteriorate,
and she needed to be in a nursing home. No one in our family had medical
training, and was such a hard decision. We visited her and took her out all the
time; she was only fifteen minutes away from us. At this point it was extremely hard; we would
bring her over for holidays and she wouldn’t know who we were or where she
was. In 2005, she had congestive heart
failure and just was her time to go. We
all received a gift the last few days, she was able to remember everyone and
tell them things only she would know to say.
I would do it all over again if I could just see her and give her a
million hugs. I think about her every single day.
Being a caregiver is hard work but it is worth it. My family took care of my grandma for years.
It was definitely a group effort. You
really need a great support system. I am
thankful that everyone was there and could help in some way. Sometimes, family care isn’t an option, it is
very important to find someone qualified to take care of your loved one. It is tough to know what to look for. There
are tools and articles from companies like Genworth that can help you find out
more information. I would recommend researching
the caregiver or the facility. Make sure
they are licensed. I know that you can usually find health department records
and see if they have had any violations. If they aren’t online, you can call
the health department and ask them as the records are public. Look for reviews
of the facility. Use search engines and learn as much as you can about the
caregiver or facility. If you are using an in home caregiver, have them do a
criminal background check and drug tests.
Many states have online court records, if they are available, search
court records. Again it is public
records. By searching court records you
get things that may not be criminal but could raise a red flag. I know I wouldn’t
want someone who has been sued a lot to be responsible for my loved one.
Thankfully Genworth has a tool that can help you find
caregivers in your area, so you can avoid Craigslist to find a caregiver.
Stay away from places like Craigslist when looking. I am leery about a total stranger taking care of
a family member that answers an online advertisement. Who knows if they know
what they are doing or properly trained? I would try and find an agency that
has well trained, professional workers that are really passionate about taking
care of people. I hope these tips help
you if you ever need a caregiver for a loved one.
This post was inspired by Genworth and Brandfluential. All
thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Creative Popcorn Toppings
We love to eat popcorn in my house. Thanks to Publix we always have some because of the buy one get one free sales they have. I don't always like just butter popcorn, even the movie theater butter microwave kind. I usually add something to it. The only time I really want butter popcorn is at the movies because I always get extra extra butter. I don't really go to the movies often.
Here are some of my creative popcorn toppings I have discovered through the years.
Parmesan cheese popcorn
You can use either the sprinkles or the shreds. I use both. It just depends because Noah likes the sprinkle kind. The shredded kind gets a little crunchy but its so good.
Jalapeño Popcorn
This is something I learned in Texas with my cousins and her kids. We went to the movies and they put jalapeños on their popcorn. I tried it with just the juice because I wasn't in to Jalapeños. Now I love them so I just throw them on top too.
Homemade Garlic Popcorn
I totally love garlic popcorn but I can't eat it very often because my stomach hurts after, but it's definitely worth it.
Popcorn and icing
This is something I used to do with my Grandma Rose. She had heart problems and was on a special diet and so she had an air popper. The popcorn was pretty bland so I would dip it in chocolate icing. It was surprisingly good.
Chili powder on popcorn is not good. I really like chili powder but never on popcorn.
How do you like to eat popcorn?
Here are some of my creative popcorn toppings I have discovered through the years.
Parmesan cheese popcorn
You can use either the sprinkles or the shreds. I use both. It just depends because Noah likes the sprinkle kind. The shredded kind gets a little crunchy but its so good.
Jalapeño Popcorn
This is something I learned in Texas with my cousins and her kids. We went to the movies and they put jalapeños on their popcorn. I tried it with just the juice because I wasn't in to Jalapeños. Now I love them so I just throw them on top too.
Homemade Garlic Popcorn
I totally love garlic popcorn but I can't eat it very often because my stomach hurts after, but it's definitely worth it.
Popcorn and icing
This is something I used to do with my Grandma Rose. She had heart problems and was on a special diet and so she had an air popper. The popcorn was pretty bland so I would dip it in chocolate icing. It was surprisingly good.
Chili powder on popcorn is not good. I really like chili powder but never on popcorn.
How do you like to eat popcorn?
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Do you like Angel Mints?
When I was younger my Grandma Rose was in the hospital on a
few occasions. We would go and visit her of course. I used to like to go to the
gift shop and look around. That is where I learned about Angel Mints. They are
kind of like the pastel mints that are sometimes called Dinner Mints or Dainty
Mints, but they are huge. They kind of
melt in your mouth, and they are so good.
They were something I always looked for when I was in candy stores, or
gift shops. They became harder to
find. So, I turned to my trusty
assistant Google, and found out where I can get some. I don’t know what is with
me and liking things that are really hard to find. I found out that their factory is in
Clearwater Florida. We were actually planning a trip to the Clearwater area at the
time. Fate? I think so! When we came down to Florida for Noah’s first trip we
went to the Angel Factory. I just wanted to buy some Angel Mints. I wasn’t
really interested in taking a tour or anything. I am not even sure they offered
one. I was so excited when I was able to
buy massive amounts of Angel Mints to have whenever I wanted. I bought a big box. Of course that was five
years ago, so those Angel Mints are long since gone. I still look for them on
occasion. I was able to find them at a candy store in Tarpon Springs. I was so
excited after looking for a while. Of course I could always just go to the
Angel Mint Factory again, since it’s fairly close to me now.
Every time I pop an Angel Mint in my mouth, I think of my
Grandma Rose. She always had mints for me when I visited. They weren’t Angel Mints but they were just
as good. It’s little things like that
which remind me of my g-ma.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
LuckyDiem Combines Thrill of Slot Machines With Instant Rewards
One of the many things I inherited from my Grandma Rose is
my love to play slot machines. When she visited my aunt and uncle in
California, they always went to Reno. It partly was the place where they went
shopping since they lived in the mountains in a town with a population of 37
and because Reno is fun. My Grandma Rose liked to play the nickel slots
and if you knew her it was funny because she didn’t seem like a gambling
woman. I found a brand new website
called LuckyDiem and they have a really cool new game where you can win dELiA*s
gift cards. Who doesn’t love cute clothes?
I know I love to save money so LuckyDiem is a win- win for me. Here are some more details on the promotion:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LuckyDiem Combines Thrill of Slot Machines With Instant Rewards
Facebook Social Game partners with dELiA*s for
launch
New York, NY, October 17, 2012 -- Earlier this month, LuckyDiem launched its new
Vegas-style game that combines the thrill of pulling the lever on a slot
machine with the joy of saving money and getting a chance to win shopping
sprees and other prizes. LuckyDiem’s launch partner is clothing retailer
dELiA*s; other partners will follow in the coming weeks. Prizes include
discounts, $1,500 worth of dELiA*s gift cards, and $200 worth of Amazon gift
cards.
LuckyDiem.com serves up
10,000 points and 10 free spins to each new player, who can easily register by
logging in through Facebook. With a click on the “Spin” button, players get to
see what they’ve won. Basic prizes during the dELiA*s campaign include coupons
that offer $5, $10, and $15 off purchases at delias.com.
Players can instantly
increase their rewards by simply answering a single pop culture trivia question
correctly. Savings continue when players
either signup or share their success on Facebook and Twitter, earning as much
as 40% off their entire dELiA*s purchase.
However, when a player’s initial number of points for spins runs out,
that’s when the rest of the game really starts to heat up. Players earn points
through a variety of actions such as answering more trivia questions and
sharing with friends. And players who share photos of their dELiA*s purchases
on LuckyDiem’s Facebook page can collect 200,000 points.
Grand prizes during the
dELiA*s campaign include $1,500 in gift certificates (one $1,000 gift
certificate and ten $50 gift certificates), which are instantly won by users
playing the game. In addition, $200 worth of Amazon gift cards will be given to
the top players on the leader board at 7:00 PM Eastern time on Thursday,
October 25.
Grand prizes planned for
LuckyDiem campaigns with future partners include trips to the Super Bowl and backstage
passes to concerts.
“LuckyDiem makes consumers
feel like every day is their lucky day,” said LuckyDiem CEO Andrew Landis. “With
87% of 10 - 65 years-olds playing games online today, it’s imperative that
advertisers integrate social gaming into their overall marketing strategy. Our
turnkey platform is a launching-off point for brands to engage with consumers, but
most importantly, LuckyDiem extends that initial engagement and sustains the
emotional connection between the consumer and brand in a way that’s never been
done before.”
“Instead of pushing the
message out to the consumer, LuckyDiem’s users are happily engaging with brands
through gameplay and rewards,” Landis
added. “We have several partners lined up to keep the
excitement at a fever pitch year-round.”
About LuckyDiem:
LuckyDiem was founded with
one goal in mind: to make earning rewards more fun. All consumers want to get
discounts when they shop online, but most money-saving promotions involve
filling out forms and waiting. Boring. LuckyDiem combines the visceral
excitement of Vegas slot machines with the thrill of immediate savings and the
enticement that big prizes could be just a click away. LuckyDiem launched in October
2012 with an initial campaign conducted with dELiA*s.
I hope you sign up for LuckyDiem and win big! Let me know if you are a lucky winner!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Family is Family...No Matter What
To me, family is family. I don’t care if you are my cousin or my fifth cousin. You are still my family. I am kind of confused about something. Let’s say you have an aunt that gets remarried to a man but who has a child with her first husband. Who is your uncle, would the first person become your ex uncle? It is really confusing to me. I think that they are both your uncle, because one is my cousin’s father and the other is my aunt’s husband. I would consider my cousin’s dad more of my uncle because they are my cousin’s dad. Yeah I just confused myself too. Of course most of the time the ex-husband or ex-wife are the ones that are usually the ones that don’t come to family functions because that could be kind of awkward. I know I will never go to a family function for my ex’s family and that is fine with me. But, then I am thinking about who are these people. I mean are you really supposed to forget that you spent a huge chunk of your life with those people. I understand when you divorce someone you divorce their family in a sense. Those bonds are forced to be broken. It is a fact of life. It is just something that is understood. I personally think that it sucks. I was really close to my ex-husband’s aunt. I often think about her, if she is doing well. She has a horrible disease and I loved her, I still do. I know that I will never have a hug from her, and that makes me want to cry.
I still consider those exes who are the parents of my cousins as my aunts and uncles. I am just odd I guess. I still love them. One of them I used to see all the time at family things. My family is different though. We are the type of family that would accept you if you were legally a member or not. I love that about us. I try to include them if I can. I think that life is too short, to exclude others. I love whole heartedly. I can’t just forget about someone like they never existed. When my Grandma Rose passed away, my cousin’s ex-wife came to the funeral. I could tell she felt kind of out of place when she went around hugging everyone in my family. She said I’m sorry for your loss, and I replied I am sorry about yours too. I knew that she spent a lot of time with my grandma, my grandma loved her. I think that I took her by surprise when I said that. I truly feel that it was her loss as well. My aunt Mary came to the funeral as well. She was married to my uncle before he passed away; I hadn’t seen her probably since my uncle’s funeral. That wasn’t really weird for me either. I knew my grandma loved her too. Family is so weird sometimes.
Then I think about those who you call aunt and uncle who aren’t even related to at all. Those are usually your parents’ friends that you have known for almost or all your life. It is more an honorary title. Then you have your godparents if you are catholic. Even though, it seems like everyone has godparents these days, catholic or not. You have sisters and brothers that are not even related to you but you just love them that much and you become so close that the barrier of friends and family gets broken down and you are just family. Those are the best kind of friends to have. I love my friends unconditionally as I do my family. I love what Gibbs on NCIS said a few weeks ago about family. He said Family is more than just DNA it’s about people who care and take care of each other. I agree whole heartedly. It truly is not about DNA or marriage or anything but just that, people who care and take care of each other. I just can’t turn my back on people who I have cared about in the past. I just can’t. It is not who I am, it is not how I was raised. I am here for those, even if they were not there for me. Someday you never know who might be there for you.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
My Grandparents Love
My grandparents had a very special love. They were married a really long time. The definitely upheld their vows of till death do us part. They were married for 54 years, before my grandpa passed away. They were married in 1938. I still remember attending their 50th wedding anniversary party. I was in the first grade. It was such a fun party with all my family and their friends. There were so many people that I remember there wasn’t room for everyone in the kitchen and family room. My cousins and I hung out in the den. I am so glad that I was able to help them celebrate their undying love for each other. I remember that I gave them a special gift. It wasn’t an expensive gift, but it was a handmade book I made in school about the letter A. My grandma held on to it for as long as I can remember. It is probably in one of our boxes still. I proudly signed their guestbook Sheila followed by 1 and the class number I was in, which meant I was in the first grade. My sister was in third grade and signed her name the same way.
I still love looking through their 50th anniversary guest book now. It reminds me of their love, the good times we had. I don’t know if my grandparents had a wedding guest book. I never saw one, and my grandma saved everything. I even found my great grandparents birth and death certificates one day. I think it is important to have a guest book because someday your children or even your grandchildren will be curious about who attended. In some cases, your children were not born yet, and it is a great way to remember who celebrated your marriage with you.
Did you have a guest book at your wedding?
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