Coupon Queen

I've been buying Entertainment coupon books for years.  It started when the boys sold them as a fundraiser when they were in Cub Scouts.  When they "graduated" to Boy Scouts and stopped selling them, I relied on younger siblings of their friends or neighborhood youngsters. Now that those kids have gotten too old,  I get one each year from someone at work selling them on behalf of their children.

The book is a great deal.  I usually recoup my investment within the first month, and then we use it to find and try out restaurants we haven't been to before.  Each year I only redeem a small percentage of the coupons, most of which expire on November 1st.  Every October I try to see how many I can use up before I have to toss the book; the last week of the month is always a mad frenzy of couponing.  This year was no exception.

Most of the Entertainment coupons are of the "buy one item, get one free" variety.  Since Tony's out of town right now, those weren't particularly useful for me.  Last week I looked carefully through the book and pulled out a handful of coupons that offered completely free items or a specific dollar amount off an order, and used them to eat (and drink) cheaply all weekend:

• Thursday on the way home from work I used a coupon for a free iced coffee at McDonald's.  Attached to the cup were two Monopoly game pieces.  One of the pieces was for a free large beef sandwich!

• Friday for lunch I went back to a McDonald's to get my free sandwich. The weather was beautiful, so I got the burger to go and ate in my car while I listened to the radio.  Instead of buying fattening fries, I paired the sandwich with some healthy carrot sticks I'd brought from home, and finished off the meal with an apple.

• After McDonald's I went to the mall to do some shopping.  While I was there I followed my nose to Auntie Anne’s, where I turned in my coupon for a free pretzel. (I shared the store's BOGO coupon with the woman behind me in line, who seemed thrilled.)

• It was hours before dinnertime, but I didn't want to go out again during rush hour, so on my way home from the mall, I stopped at Bandana's BBQ. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich which came with one side item--I chose potato salad, and asked for the bun to be wrapped separately from the meat, so I could heat later. After subtracting my $5.00 coupon, my meal cost $1.89.  When it was time to eat, I put the parts of the sandwich together, squirted on BBQ sauce from the package they'd provided, and paired it with green pepper chunks and some frozen grapes for dessert.

• Today I used my last two coupons.  I got a grilled chicken sandwich with fries at Cecil Whittaker’s (which cost just under $2.00), and a free cup of hot coffee at McDonald's.  I brought both home, arranged the food on a plate, then added the rest of Friday's green pepper and a glass of chocolate milk.  I finished the meal with a pear...but saved the cup of coffee later in the afternoon when I needed a caffeine fix..

I didn't do a great job of cleaning up after myself as the weekend went along, and by tonight the counter top was cluttered with more bags, paper napkins, and carryout containers than I'd seen in quite some time.  I tore the paper products into small pieces and added them to the compost pile, tossed anything recyclable into the bin, and threw the rest in the trashcan. Very easy!

Corny

I was watching an episode of Good Eats on the Food Network last night.  It was called "All Hallows Eats", and was about homemade Halloween treats--candy apples, candy corn, and popcorn balls.  Every time the show goes to a commercial they feature a fact or some trivia on the screen; that's how I learned that today (October 30th) is National Candy Corn Day.

Candy corn is one of my favorite sweets. The yellow, orange, and white kernel-shaped candies are an example of a mellow cream, a type of candy made from corn syrup and sugar that has a marshmallow-like flavor.  According to Wikipedia, George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company created the candy in the 1880s. The sweet copy of dried corn kernels was originally made by hand in a very labor-intensive procedure, and were only available on a seasonal basis.  Now everything is done by machine, and the candy is available year-round.  You can even buy it in non-traditional seasonal color combinations. (Pastel-colored Bunny Corn for Easter, anyone?)

In honor of the day, I briefly thought about making a batch of candy using Alton Brown's recipe, but decided against it; I'd probably end up eating it all myself.   The recipe yielded 60 to 80 pieces; that's a dangerous amount of candy for one person to have in the house, especially when candy corn is one of their weaknesses.  Instead, I'll go to the store and buy the smallest package of candy corn I can find.  You can't let a holiday like this pass without celebrating it in some way!

Trick or Treat!

Just like last year, today the students of the preschool I work at went to the retirement center next door for trick or treating.  Many of the center's residents were sitting in the communal area by the front door, and the students moved from person to person receiving goodies.  When they were done there, they walked down the halls of the building's first floor and got candy from the residents that chose to sit in front of their apartments.  I work in the two-year old classroom, so most of the students had no clue what trick or treating was all about at first, but they quickly caught on.  The boy I was shepherding had an infectious smile and the sweetest way of looking the residents in the eye to say "Thank You" that made many of them smile.

Last year I dressed in a Hawaiian muumuu and lei and wore a flower in my hair.  This year, though, I spend too much time on the floor to wear a dress, so I needed a different costume.  I found a set of lime-green scrubs at a resale shop and went as a nurse.  It was the most comfortable Halloween costume I've worn in years; the pants had an elastic waist, and the shirt was soft and baggy.

After work I had to make a couple of stops, and I didn't feel at all uncomfortable wearing my costume into the stores.  When I got home I kept the same clothes on, because I was going to use it again tonight when I attended the school's Trunk or Treat celebration.

I've never been to a Trunk or Treat (where children trick-or-treat from car trunk to car trunk) before, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I got to the school just as things were getting started. There were 16 cars arranged in a U shape around the parking lot. Each of them had their trunks open, and many were decorated in some way.  Once the trick or treating started, the kids went from car to car collecting goodies.  Although they were predominantly preschoolers from the school, there were also a few siblings.  I got to see a few of the kids from my class, and some that I worked with last year.  I also got to talk with the parents of both current and former students.

There was a photographer taking pictures and an inflatable movie screen showing cartoons, but once the trick or treating was done I decided to leave.  Once the sun went down it got quite cold, and I only had a jacket.

And The Winner Is...

Betsy!  Congratulations.

This was my first give-away, and I was surprised how few people entered to win the gift certificate to any CSN store.  However, I was looking for a way to thank the people who read (and comment) here regularly, so I was glad to see familiar names in the comments section.

This morning I used the random number generator at Random.org to select the winner.

Thanks to everyone who entered. I had a lot of fun with this, and hope to do it again sometime.

Time Is Running Out...

Tomorrow's the big day!  I'm GIVING AWAY a gift certificate for any CSN store to one lucky reader.  For all the details, look here.

See You Later, Alligator

This morning I said goodbye to Tony, who left for a training class in Kansas City.  When he went for training last fall he was gone six weeks, but this session will be much shorter--only two and a half weeks.

For the next 16 days I'll be doing all of the household chores, starting immediately. Tomorrow is trash day, and since Tony isn't here to do it I need to make sure the cans are out at the curb first thing in the morning.  I also need to pay the bills that came in today's mail, another job that I usually don't do.  Tony also takes care of feeding the cats in the morning, so they'll be waking me up in the morning when it's breakfast time!

There are some advantages to being on my own, though.  I can eat where, what, and when I want.  The only dirty dishes and clothes will be mine, and if I want to leave them laying around, no one will be here to complain.  I can watch whatever I want to on TV, and watch as many chick flicks as I want.

I suspect Tony will be home before I know it.

Feature Attraction

A while back I bought a Groupon for two tickets at a STLCinema. The chain has four locations to choose from, but I really wanted to go to the Moolah Theater. This afternoon Tony and I did just that.

The single screen Moolah is housed in a renovated Shiner temple that was built in 1913.  (In addition to the theater, the building also has a lounge, a small bowling alley, and loft apartments.)  We got there just as the doors were opening at 1:40 for our 2:00 matinée. There were several groups of people ahead of us, but it didn't take long to get our tickets for The Social Network.  In addition to the regular concession stand there's a full bar available, but we decided to go with the traditional popcorn and soda.  Tony bought it while I used the rest room, then we entered the high-ceilinged theater and picked out one of the leather couches arranged on the main floor.

Yep, couches.  Although the theater also has rows of stadium seats at the back of the room (and a balcony that's open on the weekends), they also have dozens of couches arranged in front of the screen with small end tables in between to set your drinks and snacks on. The theater has a huge screen (20' X 45'), which turned out to be a bit of a problem.  Halfway through the previews, I realized that we were sitting too close; I was already getting a headache.  Fortunately, there was an empty couch in the row behind us, so we  picked up our things and moved.  Problem solved.

 Once the movie started, it seemed natural to cuddle up against Tony, just as I would if we were at home.  I really enjoyed the movie about the founding of Facebook. Two hours passed quickly, and all too soon the final credits came on.  The house lights came up, and it was time to leave the theater.

Shine On

Did you know that tonight's full moon was special?  It's the hunter's moon, the first full moon after the harvest moon (which is the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox).  Traditionally, the crops were harvested and then people hunted to accumulate food for the winter. The hunter's moon provided plenty of light to hunt by.

Tony and I took a walk after dinner.  It was starting to get cloudy, and we watched the moon slip in and out of the clouds.   It didn't provide a whole lot of light, but we didn't really need it. Tonight's route took us through a subdivision, where street lights provided plenty of illumination, and through the grounds of the local high school, where a football game was being played.  The lights of the field were so bright it completely blocked out the moon.

I don't know if there's a Hunter's Moon theme song, but the whole time I was walking I had the song "Shine On, Harvest Moon" stuck in my head.  When we got home I was waiting for Tony to open the garage door so we could go inside and I did a little soft-shoe dance to go along with the music in my brain.  My body was silhouetted against the garage door as it went up.

According to the Farmer's Almanac, the Native American tribes that lived in what is now the northern and eastern United States kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon.  They are:

• January – Wolf moon
• February – Snow moon
• March – Worm moon
• April – Pink moon
• May – Flower moon
• June – Strawberry moon
• July – Buck moon
• August – Sturgeon moon
• September – Corn moon
• October – Hunter moon
• November – Beaver moon
• December – Cold moon

I'm So Excited

It's  time for a giveaway!

Last week I wrote about furniture and CSN Stores.  After the post was published they were nice enough to send me a $45 online gift certificate, which I'm ready to give away!

The certificate is good for ANY product at ANY CSN store.  (There are more than 200!)  To enter, just leave a comment and tell me which of their eleven categories of stores (Furniture; Home Décor; Kitchen and Dining; Home Improvement; Patio and Garden;  Baby and Kids; Luggage, Bags, and Shoes; Health and Fitness; Pet; Office; or School) you'd choose from if you won.

The contest will end on October 27th  I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner, and post their name

Be Good, Johnny

 Did you know that American music icon Chuck Berry is celebrating his 84th birthday today?

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry was born October 18, 1926, and still going strong, playing at least once a month around town. I was fortunate to see him a couple of years ago.  I have no doubt that if I went to his concert this week he'd still be rocking.

In honor of his big day, here's some vintage rock and roll "goodness":