Thrift Store Reviews - if I can get through them without having to

go to the bathroom. I've got the stomach flu bad, but I'm trying to distract myself from it by sitting at the computer.

Oh, and by the way, I've discovered a great way to read books, especially in the summer. Buy them at a thrift store. 1) They are super cheap 2) If you read it slowly, you won't have to worry about overdue fines from the library 3) If you hate it, you are only out 29 cents. I have the best luck with books at, of course, my new favorite home away from home, Mission Mart, and then Goodwill, and then the Hospital Thrift Store. The Simple Kids like the book selection at the Hospital Thrift Store, otherwise, I swear I wouldn't go there. I never find anything.

Anyway, here's my review about the local thrift stores (I know you've all been dying to hear this).

#1) Mission Mart - I love, love, love Mission Mart. They have the best overall items (I was going to say junk, but it is junk that I love and want to buy and put in my house, and I don't put junk in my house, so therefore, I'll say items. It sounds classier.) They have the clothes arranged by sizes (one of my biggest beefs with Goodwill - they don't organize the kids' clothes by size.) They have classic children's books, and adult fiction books besides Danielle Stelle and Tom Clancy (no offense to people who read these books, I just would like to have a wider selection than that), non fiction books separated into categories (what a concept!), funiture, and overall just more of the "items" that I like (retro glass, wood toys, wool clothing, etc.)

#2) Goodwill - This store is way closer to me than Mission Mart. It used to be the only thrift store that I went to. I still find some things here, in fact, I picked up a bicycle for Jelly Bean not too long ago for $3, and I usually end up with a book or two. But overall, the selection has been not great for months now. They upped their prices about a year ago too, and so now, I find myself saying "Is this glass dish really worth $3?" which I'm sure it is, but I didn't question back when it would have been priced at 97 cents.

#3) Hospital Thrift Store. I went to this store once in, oh I don't know, 2000 maybe? I was underwhelmed, and hadn't been back until this summer when I decided to expand my thrifting opportunities. The first time I went there, I found 3 or 4 things, and I thought "Well, this place has possibilities." I've been back three times since, and zippo. Like I said up there, I wouldn't go if it wasn't for the kids.

Oh, and not a thrift store, but a consignment store, #4) Cute As A Button - This store just makes me mad. They only take clothing if you are one of the first 10 or something of the day, and everything there is way overpriced, and the quality isn't that great. I'm still mad about the day I went in there, and Super somehow ended up there without shoes on, and we were going to be doing more shopping that day, so I had to buy him some there. The only shoes in his size were some junky sandals that I would have maybe paid 25 cents for at a garage sale, and they were priced $4! They were very worn, and Super wore them maybe 5 or 6 more times before they broke. Grrrr. I didn't go back there for at least a year after that, but then last summer I bought a couple of things there that I really needed for the baby I was watching, and couldn't find them at garage sales. That were, of course, overpriced. Grrrr. I went there a couple weeks ago when I was on that side of town and needed to kill some time. They wanted $5 for hardcover kids book. Seriously? Don't they know that I could get the same book, in hardcover, at Mission Mart for mere 49 cents?

But here's the deal: Now that I've given this review, you have to promise not to buy all the stuff that I want at Mission Mart, o.k.?

The other thing I've been doing besides blogging . . .

is going to the Simple Kids' activities this summer. Super is in Wee Ball and loves it. Jelly Bean is in Pre Ball and doesn't love it. (She was in T-Ball last summer and loved it, and thought that she thought that she would love Pre-Ball. She has already decided that she will do Swim Team next summer.) Flower is on Swim Team and really likes it, but early morning practice is a little rough!

Super has Wee Ball from 6-7 pm on Monday/Wednesday, and Jelly Bean has Pre-Ball on Monday/Wednesday from 7-8 pm with games on Saturday mornings. Flower has Swim Team practice from 7-8:30 am Monday through Friday, and 6-7:30 pm Monday through Friday except on Tuesday when she has meets from 5:30 -9:30 pm. So our evenings have been a little busy, and our schedule is all off.

My children have always gone to bed on the early side (7:00 pm, although the girls can read for another 1/2 hour or so.) Well, on Monday and Wednesday nights, we aren't home until 8:30, and still need to do baths, etc. and Tuesday, we aren't home until close to 10 pm. But they are good and tired in a good kind of way, and go to sleep quickly.

Here are some pictures of them in action:

Look at that arm!

Jelly Bean out in the field.

Flower testing the water before a race

I never thought dentures would seem appealing . . .

I had a bit of a rough day today - not emotionally, thankfully, but Jelly Bean had a high fever all day yesterday and today, and was generally moping around/sleeping and Flower fell and had to go to the hospital to get her wrist checked out (just a sprain!), and on top of this, I had to go to the dentist office because I had a couple of teeth that have been bothering me for a couple weeks now. And teeth pain, man, it is right up there on the pain/can't function in your regular life sort of way. By this morning, I couldn't stand it anymore. I called as soon as the dentist's office was open, and they could see me today at 12:45. Diagnosis was that I needed two root canals. Make that two MORE root canals.

I should back up and say that I have terrible teeth. Mostly of my own doing from years of being bulimic. Which I don't do anymore, and haven't for years, but when you are bulimic for 14 years, well, you pretty much destroy all the enamel off your teeth, and then you get decay much easier than other people. I stopped being bulimic 14 years ago, and had my first root canal and crown shortly thereafter. Then a couple fillings. Then two crowns. Going to a cheap dentist. And scrounging and trying to pay back the dentist. Moving. Having to get a new dentist. Can't afford to get another new crown I need, so one of my molars gets pulled. Moving. Teeth hurting, but can't afford to go. Moving. And. Moving. Should have gone to the dentist, but knew it would be bad. Then there was the all the years of being pregnant and nursing.

4 years ago, when Super was 3 months old, I couldn't stand the pain another moment. I told the dentist that I knew that it would be bad. I was right. In the course of about 6 visits (some done under sedation), I had 8 crowns/root canals done (mostly on my top front teeth), and four fillings. And a deep gum treatment. The bill, after insurance, was enough that I could have purchased a Saturn 4 door sedan instead. It took years, and help from family, to pay off the bill.

Then in 2006, I had a couple teeth start hurting. I tried to ignore it. I just couldn't face another hefty dental bill. Then I found out I was pregnant. I'd do something about it after the baby was born. Had a miscarriage. Ignored the pain, even though I could have done something about it. Finally, in November 2007, I made an appointment. Found out I was pregnant. Decided to do something after the baby was born. Lost Christopher at the end of March 2008. Decided to go to a different dentist. Went back in August 2008. Needed a filling on one tooth, and a root canal and crown on another. Oh, and of course, all 3 kids needed check-ups and Flower had a few fillings. The bill was only in the 3 figures. Manageable. November comes, and suddenly, a couple of other teeth start hurting. Two days into it, I can't sleep, or eat. A week into it, I decide to go back to the dentist. He says that I probably need a couple root canals/crowns. Great. It is almost Christmas. We haven't even started paying on the other stuff, and now we are looking at $600 more?? Great. I schedule them for a couple of weeks later.

But, almost magically, the pain is gone in a couple of days. Surely, it will come back. But it doesn't. I know that I should have them fixed anyway, but I really didn't have money laying around, and if it wasn't bothering me?? I cancelled the appointments. That will make the pain come back for certain. Nope. And so it went on. I knew that I should start paying the dentist for the work in 2008. But February, then March, then April come, and there is no bill yet. I should call him and ask about it. Then May comes. School's out. I really need to call. And then it is July. Around the 4th, I feel a little twinge in the gum area by one of my teeth. I'm sure it is nothing. It is gone the next day. Then a different tooth hurts. Which teeth were bothering me a few months ago? Are these the same ones? Hmm. Not sure. The next day, PAIN. One tooth more than the other. PAIN for a few days. And then it is better. For 4 whole days. And then it is back. And it is worse. And it is constant. I take Motrin like candy. It doesn't help. I put Maximum Strength Ambusol by both teeth. Doesn't help. I take some leftover Xanax to see if I relax a little, I'll at least be able to sleep a little through the pain. Doesn't help. Take Tylenol. Doesn't help. I can't eat, I can't sleep.

So today, I called. I knew that before I showed up, that they would check my file and realize that they never sent me a bill for all that work for me and the kids back in 2008. The bill for somewhere in the $900 range, give or take a few hundred. And that if they wanted a partial payment, I'd have to offer them my Little Tikes Climber as payment or something because I didn't have the money right now. I could set up a plan and send them a little each month, and hope that my "little" and their "little" were in the same general range.

But they didn't. The dentist said "Both of these teeth are the same teeth that were bothering you before. Let's start with the worst one - make an appointment at the desk. Call me if you need more pain medication, and make sure and take the antibiotic in case some of the pain is from an infection."

Even if the pain is completely gone tomorrow, I will get my teeth fixed. Hopefully, by the end of Summer, I will have both root canals done and two new crowns put on. Hopefully, I'll get the dental bill paid off in a year. Hopefully, I won't need any more root canals or crowns. I'm running out of "real" teeth to replace!

Food Storage Deals: Kroger and Jewel

I'm sorry. I've got a DREADFUL tootache (actually two - so toothACHES) and I can hardly think straight. I just took some medication which will hopefully let me get some sleep tonight, and I've got a busy day tomorrow. . . So I don't know when or if I will get to these two stores this week.

But the clear winner this week of the most FSDs is Jewel. There are tons. Kroger isn't too shabby, but if I could only go to one store this week, I'd go to Jewel.

Off to bed . . .

Food Storage Deals: Cub Foods

Deals valid from July 12-July 18, 2009 (unless otherwise noted.)

• Split Chicken Breast (Value Pack) $1/lb.
• Just Bare Whole Chicken $2/lb.
• 75% Lean Ground Beef (Value Pack) $1.89/lb.
• Red or Green Seedless Grapes $1/lb.
• Nectarines or Red or Black Plums $1.49/lb.
• Bi-Color Sweet Corn 5 for $2
• Soft Soap (7.5 oz.) Liquid Soap 10 for $10
• Scotties Tissue (85 - 160 ct.) 10 for $10
• Big G Cereals (8.9 - 13 oz.) $1.77

Cub Penny Pinching Coupons

• Homelife (96 oz.) Bleach. 97 cents. Limit 2. Valid through 7/21/09.
• Hunt's (26 oz.) Spaghetti Sauce. 67 cents. Limit 1. Valid through 7/21/09.

2 Day Sale (Friday July 17 and Sat July 18)

• Van Camps (15 oz.) Pork and Beans. 29 cents. Limit 4
• Sargento (7-8 oz.) Shredded Cheese $1.59
• St. Louis Style Pork Ribs $1.88/lb.
• Dole Classic (12 oz.) Iceberg Salad 79 cents.
• Del Monte (4 pack) Fruit Cups $1. Limt 3.

Food Storage Deals: Walgreens

Deals valid from July 12 - July 18, 2009

Walgreen Coupons

• Puffs Tissue (6 pack to go, 132 or 216 pack) 3 for $5. Limit 3
• Charmin Bathroom Tissue (12 rolls) $6.49. Limit 2
• Bounty Paper Towels (6 rolls) $6.49. Limit 2
• Spring Water (24 pk, 16.9 oz.) $3. Limit 2
• Chicken of the Sea (5 oz. Tuna or Pink Salmon) $1. Limit 2
• Deerfield Farms Baking Soda 2 for $1. Limit 4
• Morton Salt 2 for $1. Limit 4
• Swanson Chicken Broth (14 oz.) 2 for $1. Limit 4
• Geisha Mushrooms (4 oz.) 2 for $1. Limit 4
• Madam Mandarin Oranges (11 oz.) 2 for $1. Limit 4
• Palmolive (10 oz.) Dish Liquid. $1. Limit 3

Register Rewards (Buy participating products, and receive Register Rewards good on your NEXT purchase.)

• Reach Toothbrush or Floss. 3 for $9. $3 back in Register Rewards.
• Colgate Total Toothpaste (4 or 6 oz.) or Colgate 360 degrees Deep Clean Toothbrush. $3. $1 back in RR.
• Speed Stick Pro or Lady Speed Stick 24/7 Deodorant (2.3 to 3 oz.) $2.49. $1 back in RR.
• All Detergent (26 to 40 loads). 2 for $10. $3 back in RR.

Other Deals

• General Mills Cereal (11.25 to 14 oz.) $2. Limit 4.

Food Storage Deals: Target

Deals valid from July 12 - July 18, 2009

Charmin (30 pack big of 16 pack mega) Toilet Paper $15
Scott Toilet Paper (20 pk. 1000 ct. or Extra Soft) $13
Puffs (60 or 72 ct. or 108 ct.) 3 for $4
Bounty (12 pk. giant) Paper Towels $15
Bounty Basic (12 pk. big roll) Paper Towels $11
Bounty (200 ct.) Napkins $2.50
Kellog's Cereal (18.2 oz. Raisin Bran Crunch, 18 oz. Fristed Bite-Size Mini Wheats) $1.88
Secret (2.6 or 2.7) or Old Spice (3 or 3.25 oz) Deodorant $2
Clorox Beach (82 or 96 oz.) 3 for $5
Herbal Essance (10.17 oz.) Shampoo $2.79