The Drugstore Game

I've been following coupon and money saving blogs for a while. It seems like people are getting the most incredible deals at drugstores and I've decided to give it a try. I could easily walk into a drug store and fill a little hand held basket with tons of "necessary" items....a new lipstick, a trendy nail polish or eyeshadow, a new shampoo....and in the time it takes for one of Olivia's prescriptions to be filled I've easily spent $100. I've been apprehensive about trying the drugstore game because I know what a temptation all those little "necessities" can be. I also don't want to end up with closets full of toiletries that we would never use. And to be completely honest it all seemed a little confusing. I've had to read through the instructions and helpful hints for drugstore shopping several times. I knew that I'd need some strict guidelines to prevent my frivolous spending. I've decided to try it for 6 weeks and I've decided that my weekly limit for investing in these fabulous deals is just $10 a week.

I decided to focus on CVS because based on the information online it seems to have the simplest coupon policy/reward program.

Week 1 (last week)

• 2 bottles of Scope mouthwash normally $4.50 ea., on sale for $3.99 ea. I had 2 $1 off 1 coupons making the mouthwash $2.99 each and then I got $4 in extra care bucks (to be used as cash at any purchase at CVS until July). So essentially I paid $2 for two huge bottles of Scope. Not an enormous success but a good start since this is something we buy at least once a month and I usually spend about $4 a month on it.

Week 2 (this week)

• Mike's Old Spice Body Wash is on sale for $4/bottle and you get $4 extra care bucks when you purchase one. I have a buy one get one free coupon so I'm going to spend $4 and get 2 bottles of body wash and get $4 in extra care bucks so it will end up being free.
• General Mills Cereal is on sale for 3 for $10 and you get $4 in extra care bucks when you buy 3 so you're basically getting 3 for $6. I have 2 cereal coupons $.75 off one and $1.00 off 2 so I'll be getting 3 for $4.25, each box of cereal ends up being $1.25.
• Total I spent $12 out of pocket and then spent my $4 extra care bucks from the previous trip so I spent $8 total and have $8 in extra care bucks.

Now that I'm writing all this down I'm wondering, is it really worth it? I guess every little bit adds up and these are things that I do buy regularly. I still have 4 weeks to go to see it the drugstore game is really worth it. Check back next week for another update.

Respite, the Reality

Today (actually right now as I'm typing this) is our first experience with Respite care. This time last week I had big ideas of grandiose things that I would do with Peter while Olivia was playing with Ms. J (the respite care provider). The reality is something much different. I didn't plan anything for Peter and I to do so I was scrambling to get out of the house as Ms. J arrived. Ms. J wanted to take Olivia into the back yard so that Olivia could play before it got to hot. Peter already had his shoes on so that he and I could go but when he saw that he wasn't getting to go outside with Olivia he had a complete melt down. He did perk up when he got in the car with me, just the two of us.

We drove to the library with the windows down, a rare treat since we can't have the windows down with Olivia in the car. Peter loved the wind blowing in his face and I loved seeing the wind blowing his sweet curls. I worried that I'd left Olivia in the hands of a virtual stranger. We had fun at the library, Peter loved the toddler size furniture in the children's section. He had fun picking out books, but if there's not a dog on the cover then he's not interested. We came home with 3 books about Spot the dog. I wondered what Olivia was doing. We left the library. Peter said bye bye to every single person we saw as we were walking out the door, from the librarian to the bum outside the library. I love that Peter is the complete opposite of Olivia at this age. Olivia was always very shy and has just recently started to open up. Peter is as outgoing as can be! We headed home so that I could make lunch and get Peter down for his nap. And of course I had to know that Olivia was really ok. Now I'm sitting upstairs blogging while Olivia is wandering around with Ms. J downstairs.

I know I'll really appreciate and enjoy the break that respite care provides but it'll take me some time to get there.

Day +321 Clinic Recap

Today we all headed to Durham for Olivia's clinic visit. We haven't been in 4 weeks so I really can't complain.

Basically things are going well. Dr. Paul is on his inpatient rotation so we saw a different doctor, Dr. Prasad. It can sometimes be frustrating to see different doctors but they really practice team medicine at Duke and it is always patient centered so even though we haven't see Dr. Prasad in months he knew exactly what was going on with Olivia. It has been a while since Dr. Prasad has seen Olivia and he was very impressed with how well she's doing. He was happy to see her running around and giggling and laughing at him. We're going to begin weaning Olivia's final steroid. Everything is on track for her 12 month studies next month. Olivia is having some very mild stomach/digestion issues. Her lab work looks great and she isn't showing any signs of the dreaded Graft vs. Host disease yet. The consensus is that Olivia might have some food allergies. Since she has asthma, eczema, and seasonal allergies it is also probable that she has some food allergies. We're going to try going lactose free around here for a bit and see if that changes things. We're also incorporating allergy testing into her 12 month studies. Olivia is also starting to have some sleep issues, when she goes to sleep then she sleeps well throughout the night. Every once in a blue moon (but twice in the last month) she will just not go to bed, she stays up almost all night long giggling and playing in he room. I know that sleep issues are common for kids with Sanfilippo syndrome so I was worried about the direction that we're heading but Andre assured me that it's the result of the changes we've made to her medications as we're weaning them down. Overall it was great clinic visit.

I really wish I could have gotten a cute picture of the kids together because they were excited to sit together in the big chair. Its just hard to keep these too still. Olivia seems to have the sit still and smile thing down, Peter, not so much....



Olivia is used to waiting for the doctors at clinic



Peter, not so much. He thinks he's being tortoured.



What a difference a few months makes....Olivia is now okay with sitting under the tent to get her breathing treatment by herself so I can stay with Peter outside the tent. Peter now understands that he has to wear the mask when Olivia is in the tent.






We all had a nice relaxing trip home!

I'm Late, I'm Late, For a very important date!

I am a get there early type of person. I was never able to master the art of arriving someplace perfectly on time. I was always early. It never bothered me, I like to be there a little early, I hate feeling rushed. My time is valuable and I recognize that other peoples time is equally valuable. I think it's rude and disrespectful to be late.



When you get married everything changes as you adjust to having merging two different people's schedules and "leave the house" routine. Apparently when Mike and I got married I learned that it's my responsibility to somehow ensure that his phone, keys, wallet, ID, and credit card are in my purse. He does not carry his credit card or ID in his wallet, I have stopped trying to understand why. I've had to adjust my "leave the house" routine to make sure that we are actually able to leave on time.



When Olivia was born that routine changed as well, there's the diaper bag, the baby essentials, the right stroller, toys, etc. Then as Peter joined our family the routine shifted again. Unless I get everything ready the night before it's almost impossible to leave the house in under 30 minutes. It's crazy.



But I can't even blame my most recent tardiness on my children. Yesterday we had an FRG meeting, it was on post at 5:30. The babysitter arrived at about 4:40. I was in the car by 4:50 but then I didn't see my military ID in it's usual spot in the car, I ran back into the house to look for it but gave up after a few minutes because I didn't want to be late. I was back in the car by 4:56 and headed to the meeting. I planned to go onto base using a different gate since I didn't have my military ID. I got to the gate at 5:18 (still doing ok on time). The guard was very understanding, I showed him my drivers license and pointed out that our vehicle was registered on post. He instructed me to hop out of the car, open all the doors and pop the hood and show him my registration. After he helped me open the hood of the car (I can never find that stupid lever) I began to frantically search through the glove compartment for my registration. Of course I have no idea where it is, the guard tells me he'll just call it in. The guard calls, apparently my registration is expired. The MP's (military police) are on their way. I continue frantically looking for my registration but find my military ID instead. Lovely, if I'd only had this 10 minutes ago I could have gone through the regular gate where they wouldn't have checked my registration. The MP's arrive, I think they take pity on me because I'm looking like the white rabbit from Alice and Wonderland. Apparently my registration expired the day before. The decided to let me go, warning me that I could be pulled over for an expired registration and could be given a citation and that technically the vehicle could be towed because it is not legal. I finally arrive at the meeting, only 15 minutes late.