Ray & Donna Riggin Family News

2009-08-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

Kind of dark but this is our team. They are champs!

2009-08-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Emily was the target. This was her game.

2009-08-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

Allie got doused and she didn't even play!

Time to catch up

2009-08-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

This summer has been crazy. So many things going on - 0r rather went on. Seeing as it is almost time to go back to school and I have not been on the computer other than to check the email. I'm just so pooped at night to and too busy in the day to do this. So here it goes.

Softball: Our summer softball season was fantastic. Everyone (except Ryleigh who is in Utah) was involved. Baily was the only actual player in the family but we all had jobs to do. Ray and I are both on the Board of Directors. Ray is vice president over the competitive league - which is the girls 12 years and older. I am the secretary for the league. Allie tried her hand at umpiring this summer and did a great job. She could not actually play because of her knee, but she could umpire 10 year olds girls because she did it from the field and didn't actually have to bend behind the plate. Bret also decided to umpire and loved it. He umpired the older girls and had a great time. The coaches loved his knowledge of the game and his great sense of humor.

Baily worked as a "groundswoman." She and another boy were in charge of getting all the fields ready for play each day. Ray was their supervisor and helped when she had a game that conflicted. Baily works very hard. It was hot and dirty and she loved every minute of it - except for Logan. He is the boy she had to work with and she didn't appreciate the fact that he didn't really know much about softball. His chalk lines were pretty wobbly and she is a perfectionist. She finally got brave enough to tell him just to drag the fields and she would do the lines. We now laugh at the new street lines on Pines Road by I-90 because the lines are so crooked. We call them "Logan Lines." LOL

Britt and I worked in the concession stand. She was a snow cone making machine! She did a fabulous job until she decided to have a baby in the middle of the season. (I will catch up on that too.) Taylor Carpenter was so willing to step in and take her place and we had fun working together too.

When we were not all doing our jobs, we were rooting on Baily. Ray was the head coach and Bret assisted. I kept the score book and Britt and Allie cheered on the team. We had a great time with all the girls. I think we had the best girls in the league just because they had such great attitudes. We will miss the girls who are graduating and moving on. Our team ended up winning the 18U division tournament. We took third in league and rallied to win the tournament. It was awesome. Baily is eligible to play 3 more years and Allie should be able to play next year so we look forward to next summer.

Once a month is the best I can do.

2009-06-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Keeping up with blogging is a lot of work when you have so much going on. I am terrible at writing letters to people. I don't call my parents often enough and I almost never write in a journal. What in the world made me think I could keep up with a blog!?

I have been quite busy as the secretary for the Spokane Valley Girls Softball Association; a job I thought would be a piece of cake. HA! I cannot believe how may people complain about who their daughter is playing with rather than just being happy that they get to play at all. I get all the phone messages - which I don't reply to per the instructions of the Board - and all the emails for the league. I am certainly not the only one on the Board who is busy, but I had not idea I would be this busy. The games start tomorrow, so I hope that all the complaining has stopped and we can just get on with letting the girls play ball.

Baily will be working hard this summer. She is still going to be doing the singing thing, but will also be playing softball two to three times a week, plus doing all the prep work on the softball fields. Quite a nice job for a young girl to earn some good money. She is a good worker and will earn every penny of it.

I am so proud of Allie. She is going to work too. Not something that comes easily to her. LOL She will be an umpire for the 10U level of players. They play with pitching machines so all she has to do is count pitches and watch for plays at the bases. She is excited about earning some money. She will also help me out in the snack shack for a little more of the green stuff.

Bret and Britt are counting down the days until Olivia arrives. Brit is doing a great job setting up house and getting ready for Olivia's arrival. Bret is working some construction jobs and is going to umpire this summer in the softball league. Before he knows it it will be time for him to start school in the fall. He is enrolled in the law enforcement program at SCC.

Roo is staying her usual busy self down in Utah. I haven't heard from her much lately, which means she is busy. Allie is going to visit her soon and they are both looking forward to it.

Ray and I are so blessed to have such wonderful children. We got the cream of of the crop!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T16:08:00.001-07:00

Life is good. The sun is shining. My kids are healthy. I don't have to cook today and I have time to do this.

Allie is progressing quite well with her knee. She is riding a bike now - stationary.

Baily is winding up softball at school and soccer for club. She is getting ready to start her singing project with the record company. It will be a busy summer. She needs to write some songs and they will put them on a CD to sell. I will let everyone know when so you can buy it. :)

Ryleigh is no longer homeless. After a nice visit last weekend, she is back in Utah and back to the grind. She went bike riding this weekend and had a wee accident. Nothing big, but she is a little sore.

Bret and Britt are settled in their new apartment and looking for work. Bret is getting all his ducks in a row to start school next fall.

Donna is enjoying working at the pre-school. The other things I usually do at home get put on the back burner, but it's okay.

Ray and Donna are getting geared up for summer softball with the girls. We are on the Board of Directors for the league and that keeps us busy.

Ray is happy that better weather is here so he can ride his bike.

Like I said, LIFE IS GOOD.

Wow - It's May Already

2009-05-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

Lots has happened. I may have to write this in two sections because Allie should be home soon and we are going to get her a new brace for her knee. She is doing quite well and her therapy is on schedule. The brace they ordered for her slips all the time so we are trying on new ones.

Bret and Britt (and Olivia Ann) moved here last weekend and are getting settled in. It was a long drive back up here from Provo with three blizzards even, but we made it.

Ryleigh is here too! She came up with three of her "Utah friends" and is showing two of them, Chris and Tron, around Spokane. Taryn's parents live in Tri Cities so her mom came and got here this morning to visit with her family for a couple of days.

Baily is currently negotiating with a record company in town to make a CD and promote her singing. Please look on www.myspace.com/go4jantzrecords and check out her demo. She competed in talent show at her high school and the producers liked her enough to want to work with her.

Donna is working again at EVSD in a pre-school class. I love it.

WE FINALLY SOLD THE HOUSE UP IN 5 MILE THAT WE HAVE BEEN SITTING ON FOR OVER TWO YEARS - I THINK IT IS ACTUALLY PUSHING THREE YEARS. YIPPEE!

Live is good and we have nothing to complain about.

Yeah April!

2009-04-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

It is so nice to look outside and see sun. I just hope it stays.

Allie had an MRI done on her knee last week. I was expecting to hear that she had a little more damage to her LCL than we thought, but I did not anticipate the news we got. The damage to her knee is much more extensive than we thought. After reading all the gibberish of medical terms, the bottom line is that she has a tear in her ACL, some damage to her meniscus, bruising to her bones and possible fractures (one or two - we are not sure yet) to her tibia. We don't know the extent of the tear to her ACL as we have not seen the doctor yet. Hopefully we can get in tomorrow. She will most likely have at least a scope done, hopefully not full blown surgery. I will update when we know.

Baily and her soccer team played a great game on Saturday. They played with 10 girls so they had no rest the entire game. They still won 4 to 2. Baily has a great battle scar on her thigh. She was hit by a ball going so fast that it left and imprint on her leg. I will post the picture we took. I feel so bad for the girls her age that don't want to travel all the way to Seattle all the time to play premier soccer. There are not enough girls left here in Spokane to have very good games. I am proud of Baily though for not playing premier ball. All the games are on Sundays and she knows that is not something she wants to do. It is really hard on her because she loves soccer so much.

I get to see my big kids in just a couple of weeks. Ray and I are driving to Utah to go to Britt's graduation and move her and Bret back to Spokane. I really, really hate that drive to Utah, but it will be worth it to see Ryleigh, Bret and Britt.

I'm not sure I should post this, but she has it on her facebook so I'm going to. Ryleigh got a mini-hamster. She went to see the movie Bolt with some friends and then decided that she needed to get a hamster (with a friend - they went in together). She has told me how she takes it to the store with her in it's little ball and let's it run down the ice cream isle. She is such a goofball. She is having fun though.

I am in the middle of prom dress season and currently have three dresses to make. I am almost finished with Allie's. Not sure if she is going yet, but we will be ready if she gets asked. If not, she will have a dress for homecoming in the fall.

Ray is happy to finally be getting to ride bikes outside.

Allie Droppings

2009-03-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

This is an Allie dropping. The other day Ray was commenting on how you always know if you have been doing things with Allie. She usually has a string cheese where ever she goes. The problem is, she pulls off the wrapper and leaves it where ever she is. We find them in our cars, in her room, in the cabinet next to the trash can - almost never in the can itself. If we ever lose her, all we have to do is follow the Allie droppings. :)

It's raining it's pouring!

2009-03-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

We have had rain off and on this last week, mixed with a little snow. BLAH! I guess I can't complain too much, I agreed to live here. Would it be too much to ask to live in a green part of the country without all the moisture???

My ZAGS went down this week and I'm a little sad. Ray and I are big Gonzaga basketball fans. It is always sad with the last game is over for the season. Oh well, I have my own kids to watch too. The high school softball team beat Mt. Spokane in extra innings last week. A very big win for us. Baily is doing well but needs to swing the bat more. On Friday against Gonzaga Prep she had to play first base because we had some girls gone. She did a good job. Allie continues to do well cheering on her teams (volleyball and softball). It looks like we are going to have to have an MRI to see why her knee is still having sharp pains when she does her exercises. At least that way we will know for sure the extent of the damage.

Not a whole lot esle going on these days. Work is starting to pick up for Ray if the weather would cooperate. I continue to find great deals at the stores. I went shopping with Allie the other day for a spring dress or skirt and just happend by the baby department at Kohls. Okay, I didn't just happen by -- I went there on purpose. I found the cutest little Carters yellow dress with bloomers that was originally $28 -- just take a guess at how much I paid for it -- give up, I paid $1.34 and there was nothing wrong with it! I actually bought two of them; one for a gift and one for Olivia. I also got a couple of other things too, but that was my biggest deal. I just love shopping that way.

Roo told me the other day that I don't say enough about her on my blog. She is so busy all the time that I don't really hear from her much. If there is nothing going on, she creates something. I know she is having a wonderful time in Provo. She is little miss independece - just like I was at her age. I love it! She is doing great and I am proud of her.

Spring break is here and I don't have to get up at 6:00 am with the girls for a week -- Yeehaw!

Life is Good.

2009-03-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

We are finally having some spring weather. The girls (actually, one girl) got a few softball games in this week. They have not been able to play on the East Valley fields yet, but they did get to play. Central Valley beat them pretty bad in the first game, but we beat Ferris. U-high looked like it was going to go our way in the beginning, but no luck. We have a freshmen pitcher that is pretty good. We just need to quit making errors in the field and START GETTING SOME HITS!

Baily had WASL testing this last week. She said she got bored with it. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is getting rid of the WASL, but not before all my children have to pass it. Not a problem though, they are smart!

Allie's knee - The PT determined that it is her LCL that is sprained. Not sure if it is a level I or II though. She flew to Denver with her team this weekend and between the flying and the altitude of Denver it swelled up again and has been hurting. Poor baby. She said it is making a clicking noise too. That could mean a cartlidge problem. We will find out tomorrow if she needs to have an MRI. We want to find out for sure if she needs a scope so we can get it done and get better.

Great news this week on the housing front. We had to stop work a couple of months ago on a pre-sold house we were building because the buyers had not sold the house they are living in. The last thing we want is to sit on another house. Well, they sold their house and we can move ahead and finish their new house. Yeah!!!

Other than Allie's knee, we are all healthy and happy. Life is good.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

I am so bad at keeping up with this. Between checking our (mine & Ray's) e-mail, my own e-mail from all the junk mail stuff, the Softball Association's e-mail, my facebook and then looking on my favorite sites for grocery deals, this gets put off a bit.

Last Thursday at volleyball practice Allie hurt her knee. She went up for a jump and when she landed her ankle wobbled a bit and then her knee gave out. Her coach said she was hitting really hard. She couldn't get up so they iced it and had her sit a while. She was able to drive herself home but could not get out of the car without help. She was in a lot of pain. We immediately called our home teacher to get her a blessing. She was in pretty bad shape. There was nothing we could do right then, so we iced, took drugs and sent her to bed. She didn't sleep well at all.

We were able to get her into U-District PT on Friday morning. Too much swelling to tell for sure, but the initial prognosis was not her ACL. That was good, but we still had to wait until Monday to find out more. She went in yesterday and although the swelling had gone down, it was not enough. However, the PT is pretty sure there is no damage to her ACL or MCL. He said it looks like her LCL has a possible grade I or grade II sprain. I am certain the blessing helped. Right now she is going to PT every day and we will hopefully know by next week for certain the extent of the damage. If the PT is correct, she could be back on the court in about 6 weeks.

Meanwhile, the softball coach at the high school had to find a new third baseman (girl). Guess who? Baily! Baily does such a good job anywhere she is put on the field. Too bad they are never going to get to play because of the weather. She has been complaing about things the coach does every day after practice. I told her she is supposed to be having fun and if she isn't she shouldn't play. Duh!

Ryleigh must be busy because I have not heard from her in about a week.

Bret and Britt are having a Girl!

Donna has put her application in back at the school district. They need subs and we could use a little extra - or not extra - cash.

Ray is out in this crazy weather everyday building another duplex. After about two years, we think we might sell that house up on 5 mile prairie soon. We actually have three families interested in it. Wow, that would be so great to not have to pay for two houses.

Well, I'm making rolls for New Beginnings tonight so I will try to post more often. Maybe, I'll even put some pictures.

Moving on - changing direction.

2009-02-28T19:05:00.001-08:00

I have decided, I think, that I am not using this blog the way I originally intended. Letting you know about the grocery deals is all fine, but I would rather talk about my family. I'm not sure anyone is really looking at my grocery postings anyway. If any of you really need help with your grocery decisions, call me. I will still leave the links. Southern Saver is my favorite for the drug stores. Coupon Clippers has all the deals for the grocery stores.

Now, about my family...

I just love my kids. They are so awesome. Bret and Britt are doing great. Britt is working her hiney off to finish school in April. I know it must be very hard trying to finish school with good grades and feeling all yucky all the time. She is such a good example to my son. His turn is next. I know she will crack the whip and make him do good in school.

Roo gets to come home on Friday. She is just visiting for the weekend. Poor girl. She wanted to come home last weekend and, in fact, was on her way when her car broke down in Rexburg. She was so sad. Her friend Jordan is getting ready to leave for two years on a mission for our church and she wanted to see him before he left. I know it was tough for her to not be able to do that. She won't be able to see Jordan, but a visit home is always a good pick-me-up.

Allie is doing great. She is working hard in practices for the volleyball team she is playing on. She comes home with nasty bruises all the time. Allie doesn't do anything half way. She is not getting as much playing time as we had hoped, but we hope it will pay off. She is a 17 year old on a 18 year old "open" team. That means she is playing and practicing with the best in the nation. Allie isn't all volleyball though. She works hard in school too and tries her very best to annoy Baily as much as possible. She succeeds most of the time.

Now Baily. She makes me laugh. I have been listening to her and her friend Darby all day long singing - horribly I might add - at the top of their lungs. The sad thing is that Baily really can sing. I don't know about Darby; I have never heard her sing seriously. Baily and Darby can entertain themselves all day long doing absolutely nothing. They are hilarious.

Baily is almost done with driver's education. She is a good little driver.

Donna is finally using her treadmill. No, not the Pro Form. Joe's was about as nice as they could be and I finally ended up with a better treadmill. I've been working out for a week. It feels so good. I am reading the 4th book of the Twilight series while I work out. Whoa! This one is weird. I am not sure I shouldn't have stopped at volume 3. I can't quit now, though. I have to read what happens.

All in all, life is good and I am very blessed.

Weekly Deals

2009-02-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

Fred Meyer:
Lean or Hot Pockets 4/$5 SC limit 8
Country Oven Bread or FM Preserves 3/$4 SC
FM Instant Oatmeal 10/$10 SC
Hershey standard Candy Bars 3/$1 SC limit 6
Chef Boyardee canned pasta .88 use $1/5 mfc = .68 ea
Speed Stick Deodorant .99 w/in store mfc. (take the FM in store coupon and the .75/2 mfc to Albertsons and pay only .62 each)
Softsoap body wash 1.99 use .75 mfc = 1.24

Walgreens and Rite Aid - Please see Southern Saver - she rocks!

Albertsons:
Mix and match 25 10/$10 Hunts items and receive $10 off your next shopping trip.
Albertson Brand Cheeses BOGOF including parmesean, cream, string, slices, brick, shredded, jar (pay for above first then us $10 on this purchase) You can freeze cheese.
Albertson Brand canned vegetables. 20/$10

Safeway:
All these are store coupons -
Hilshire Farms deli meats 3/$8
Hormel Marinated pork tenderloins $4.99 ea
Mission tortilla chips .99
Safeway TP or paper towels $4.99
BC Fruit Snacks 4/$6 use .50/2 mfc = 1.25 ea

Trading Co.:
Fresh Strawberries 1 lb. $1.88 ea limit 2
Bananas .44 lb.
Jumbo yellow onions .33 lb.
Zesta saltine crackers .99 ea limit 2
WF White or Wheat Bread .66
WF Frozen Apple or Orange juice .98 ea limit 3

Yokes Fresh Friday:
Big Buy Bacon $1.39 ea
Oranges .33 lb.
Freash Broccoli .78 lb.
Split Fryer Breasts $1.09 lb.
Hothouse tomatoes .88 lb.
Apples .68 lb.

Harvest Foods on Trent:
WF bread .68 ea first 3
Sugar 4lb. $1.57 first 2
Flav R Pac canned vegetables .59 ea first 5

Winco Foods - up north, but we will be getting one in the valley.
Store Coupons through Sunday 2/15
Asst. Coca Cola products $1.88 /12 pk
Kellogg's Frosted Flakes .98 limit 2
Capri Sun .98 limit 2
Green Giant canned vegetables .28 ea limit 4
Del Monte Spaghetti Sauce .58 limit 3
Chicken Breasts frozen boneless skinless 3 lbs. for $3.98 limit 1
Bar S Bacon .98 limit 2
Kraft Mac N. Cheese .38 limit 3
Northern TP 12 pk double rolls $2.98 limit 1
These items are not coupons:
Fresh Chicken Breast .98 lb.
Bananas .18 lb.
10 lb. Potatoes .78 ea
Hormel Pork Spareribs .98 lb.

Weekly Deals

2009-02-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been a little slow. Last week was busy.

In the Sunday paper there was a Safeway ad.
2 pound Tillamook for $4.99 is a good deal. Thru 2/8

Fred Meyer Store Coupons:
Ocean Spray 64 oz juice 3/$5
Hershey Valentine Candy $2.99
Klondike Bars or Bryers Ice Cream 2/$5
18 ct. Eggs or English muffins BOGOF
Kroger Ibuprofin BOGOF

*if you don't get the Sunday paper - these ads are always available right inside the entrance to the store.

Trading Co.
Pork Shoulder Roast $1.27 lb.
Manwich sauce $1 minus .50/2 mfc = .75 ea

Rosauers
Flav R Pac canned vegetables .39 ea

Safeway regular ad
10# Potatoes $1.48
Country style pork ribs $1.25 lb.
All of these are $1 ea - mini carrots, store brand wheat bread, 8ct pop tarts, rice a roni, basic lunchables, kelloggs fruit snacks ($1/2 mfc) and fritos or cheetos 10 oz.

Yokes
Milk $1.68 limit 2
Oranges .38 lb.
Manwich sauce $1

Albertsons didn't have anything that stood out to me except 4 double coupon coupons valued up to $1 on the front of their ad.

As always, see the Southern Saver page (at right) for all the deals at Walgreens and Rite Aid. Walgreens has some good freebies this month.

Priceless

2009-02-02T14:54:00.001-08:00

If you read Ray's blog then you know that Baily started drivers ed. She had a half day on Thursday because of finals so we went to get her permit. I figured that it would take a while so we brought books to read while waiting in line. We walked right in. Sweet! She got her permit and we walked out. I tossed her the keys and said get in. She was a bit nervous and wasn't sure she wanted to drive just yet, but I talked her into it. She managed to back up a suburban without hitting anything in the parking lot. We pulled out onto Sprague taking a right. She was a little jerky and hit the brakes too fast, but was doing alright.

I looked up and saw a police car right behind us. Oh boy was she nervous now. I told her to take a right at the light - Pines Road - and she did. A few seconds later, whooop and flashing lights. She said "mommy what do I do?" There was a side street nearby so I told her to turn there and pull over and stop. The officer got out and walked up. It was John, Ray's cousin. After telling him that the only driving Baily had ever done before was backing the car out of the garage into the driveway, he started to howl. The ink didn't even have time to dry on her permit. He told Baily that she had just made his day and that he thought he actually might tear up. We all laughed and he let us go. Baily did great.

The end of the story.

2009-02-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

Today I went and ordered a new treadmill from a different company. I said I would not release the name of the one I have had trouble with unless they did not fix the problems. Well, they didn't. The Pro Form 8.5 which is serviced by Icon Fitness in Logan, Utah is the worst piece of equipment I have ever had the displeasure of owning.

After putting in the second circuit board that they sent me -- which took another week -- and it didn't work, I called Icon Fitness - AGAIN. After holding forever -- this should have given me a clue; their service line is always busy -- I finally talked to a human who tells me that they can send out a technician. He proceeds to give me the phone number to call him myself because it will take two more days if I ask them (Icon) to actually do their job and set up the appointment. The guy at Berube Fitness Service in Spokane was the nicest man. He checked everything out on the machine and determined that the second circuit board they sent me was indeed broken. So, back on the phone with Icon. I told them that I would like them to send me a new circuit board by overnight delivery this time. They refused. They said it wasn't in the warranty to send parts overnight. Can you believe them. I asked to speak to a supervisor. The woman I was speaking to said that she could have one call back in the next 24 hours. I told her to forget it. I said I would find every consumer report website that I could and report my experience there. She managed to have a supervisor call me right back. He confirmed what she had said and he refused to send the part overnight. It has now been 38 days since I bought the lovely piece of equipment, which has not worked at all, and they cannot spend roughly $20 to send me a working part. Customer satisfaction is not priority at this company. I had finally had it. I thanked him for his time and I am finally moving on from this.

Joe's Sports has been great through all of this. It is not their fault that the Pro Form treadmill is a piece of doo doo. They have traded me straight across for a different treadmill from a different company. I hope to be jogging soon. :P

Sunday Ads - 1/25/09

2009-01-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

Best Buy:
50 pack blank DVDs - $12.99
Rite Aid:
Fructis Body & Volume Shampoo - $2.99 minus $2.99 SCR = Free
Veet Bladeless Razor - $3.99 minus $3 SCR = .99 cents
Huggies Good Nites - $9.99 minus $5 SCR minus $2 mfc = $2.99
Walgreens:
See Southern Savers at right. Click on black tab that says Walgreens then click on the top blue "Walgreens" with dates. She rocks at this and I can't compete.
Fred Meyer:
Doritos - 3/$5 SC
Wheat Thins - 3/$5 SC
Country Oven Bread - 4/$5 SC

Ode to a Treadmill

2009-01-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

So I got this great idea right before Christmas. Ryleigh was working at Joe's Outdoors and was able to get 30% off with her employee discount, even if something was on sale. We all could use a workout and I thought why not get a treadmill. We found one with a pretty good motor, an Ipod dock and even a built in fan. We thought this is the one and asked Roo to buy it. It was December 23rd. They had one in the stock room, but it was buried in the back so I said we would pick it up after Christmas. We (meaning Ray and Fran) picked it up on Friday. It was quite heavy. At the store they noticed a tear in the box but didn't think anything of it. Upon further inspection we noticed that the treadmill was damaged. We didn't have time to deal with it then because we were taking Ryleigh to Utah. She called the store and they said "no problem." They ordered a new one and we would pick it up when we got back.

We got back on Saturday and picked up the new one on Monday. Ray and Fran have sore backs by now. I spent all morning putting it together only to realize that the bar that turns the belt was broken. I called Joe's and told them. The manager asked me what I wanted to do. I asked if he could order a new one and have it delivered - for free - since Ray and Fran were getting tired of carrying the dumb thing. No problem. He said it would be Saturday before they would get one in and probably Monday before they had a truck to deliver. By this time my patience is being tested.

On Thursday Joe's called and said that they got the treadmill in and asked if they could deliver it. Sure! Ten minutes later they called back and said "sorry this one is damaged by a forklift." My only thought was "your kidding!" That was the third one. Okay, fine. They found another one in a nearby warehouse said they thought they could get it by Saturday. Keep in mind this is now January 8th. On Saturday, January 10th, they called and said they were on their way.
It was cold, but they picked up the old one and brought the new box it. I insisted they stay to open the box to make sure it was okay. You are not going to believe this but THERE WAS NO CONSOLE IN THE BOX! That is like buying a car and not having a dashboard. We laughed and he gave me the console off the old machine.

I proceeded to put it together and when I finally got it finished, I turned it on. It did not work.
The incline worked; the fan worked; the speakers for the Ipod worked; the belt did not work. I sat down and almost cried. I called Joe's and told them. They told me they would take it back and give me a different brand. The other brand did not have the same features and I wanted this one. So, I called the company in Utah. It was Saturday and their hours are Monday through Friday. Then, I went to their web site and explained everything.

On Monday, I called the company and was on hold for several minutes until a recording came on telling me to leave a call back number. I did. That night we were watching the new episode of 24 and the phone rang. It was an 800 number so we did not answer it. It was the treadmill company. UGH!

I called them back the next day and got the recording again. It is now the 14th of January. I called again. I got a real person. I explained all of the above, he had me run a test on the treadmill and he told me the circuit board to the motor was bad. He was sending me a new one and instructions on how to put it in.

I got it today, the 21st of January. It has almost been a month. I let the circuit board warm up to room temperature and then I put it in. Guess what!!!!! IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!!

I don't know. I think I am not supposed to work out. I will call the company again tomorrow and then I am going to throw the dumb thing out the window and shoot it.

I will let you know the name of the company if I don't get some satisfaction tomorrow.

DEALS OF THE WEEK

2009-01-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

ALBERTSONS:
Cantaloupe - .48 cents a pound
Doritos - BOGOF
Cherry 7-up - Saturday only FREE w/in store coupon
Hershey's Snack Size Candy - 1.49 SC
Pork Chops - $1.49 SC
Tomato Sauce 8oz - 8/$1 SC
All laundry detergent - BOGOF ($3.25 ea)
Q-tips 500 ct. - BOGOF ($2.40 ea)
SPEND $20 GET $5 BACK INSTANTLY:
General Mills Cereal = $1.88 minus $1/3 mfc = $1.50 ea
Many other items - see ad at right ---}

SAFEWAY:
Cheez-it Crackers - 2/$5
Quaker Chewy Granola Bars - Buy 2 get 3 free ($1.20 each)
Chef Boyardee canned pasta - .77 minus $1/5 mfc = .57 each

Check for other items you might buy with ads at right --}

It's tough at the bottom

2009-01-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Allie had her first tournament with the Splash volleyball team. It is a national traveling team which she tried out for in December. We were actually a bit surprised that she made it considering that she let them know up front that she did not play on Sundays.
The team went to Phoenix last weekend and Allie found out how tough a team like that can be. She is used to getting a lot of playing time and she only got to play about 1/4th of the games. She did well when she was in, but didn't get many sets. It was hard, but she muscled up the strength to have the best attitude she could and got through it. We hope the next tournament will be better.
Baily and I had a good weekend alone. We both decided that we didn't like being such a small family. It was way too quiet. She had friends over on Saturday night to watch a scary movie - PG13 of course. On Friday night we went to "The Gauntlet" rivalry basketball game at the high school. I was there to work concessions and she was there to make noise. It was a lot of fun.
Ryleigh had a visitor down in Provo. Jordan Berezay went down to visit. He had never been there before so between her, Joey Plumb, Nikki Bean and Alek Feistner (and maybe others) they had a great time. Ryleigh is staying busy down there and doing great.
Bret and Britt are plugging along just trying to get Britt through school. The roofing business is slow right now so Bret is trying to get on with Hollywood Video again. They want to hire him as a shift leader but their computer has a glitch and they can't seem to get his paperwork. Hopefully they will get it straightened out soon.
We have been very blessed to have renters in the duplex we just finished building and are ready to start building another. We have a partnership with Dave and Lisa Bowers. They are great people to work with.
All in all, life is good.

2009-01-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have a little time today so I can get things going here. I have added a list of the grocery and drug stores I like to shop at in addition to the ones near my children. I also added the rebate links for Rite Aid and Walgreens. You need to sign up for those to get rebates. Finally, I have added -- and will add new links as I review them -- links to couponing sites and blogs that are helpful. A lot of the blogs I have reviewed are not for this area, but sometimes are still useful in finding deals.
The Coupon Clippers is a great site for finding ads in your area and purchasing coupons - or rather the service of cutting and mailing coupons. It is not legal to sell coupons. That site also has a tab titled "Tracker" which will let you know which coupons inserts will be in your Sunday paper. Again, it is not always accurate in my area. Spokane is considered small and so we don't always get all the coupons available. That is why The Coupon Clippers and The Coupon Master is a great place to get the coupons I need for stock up items. There are also some sites that you can print coupons from for free. I will search and add them soon.
I will post items I think are great deals - most of which are things I would normally buy. I will try to post Sunday ads (Rite Aid, Walgreens & Fred Meyer) by Monday. The other grocery stores I will post by Thursday -- I hope. You can always check my links if I don't get them posted.
For this week, here are some of the deals I found in my area:
Rite Aid
Dove deodorant - $3 minus $2 SCR minus $1 mfc* = free
Crest Pro Health toothpaste - $2.99 minus $1.50 mfc = $1.49
Mentos Gum - $2/2 minus .55 mfc = 45 cents (buy one)
Trident 3/pack - $1.99 minus $1 mfc = 99 cents
GE Soft white light bulbs - $2 minus $2 SCR = free
Maybelline mascara "the colossal" - $5.99 minus $2 SCR minus $1 mfc = $2.99
Walgreens
Mars candy - 3/$1 SC- limit 6
VanCamps Pork and beans - 2/$1 SC -limit 4
Auto Expressions Air Freshener - $4.99 minus $4.99 ESR = free
Fred Meyer
Rice a Roni (or pasta) $1 minus $1/4 mfc = .75 each
Kroger 2lb cheese $4.79
Eggs 18ct - BOGOF (or english muffins)
*I did not get this coupon in my Sunday ad. Still $1 is not a bad price for deodorant.

Good Deals!

2009-01-13T15:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't been on a big grocery shopping trip in a long time. With the holidays, kids getting married, kids moving away for school, I just haven't had the time. I made up for it today.

I have a year's worth of breakfast for myself and I got it dirt cheap! I usually like to drink a slimfast shake every morning. Slimfast is not cheap. Although it is cheaper than a full-on breakfast, I can't eat like that. I got 60 six packs of slimfast shakes for $149. That's 41 cents a day. It is also about a 69% savings over the original price. Yeah!

Today I also got Downey fabric softner at $1.50 for a 51oz. bottle. I bought 6. The big 100 ounce bottle were on sale for $10 each. They were out of the big bottles so I got 6 50 ounce bottles for $5 each. If you bought $30 worth, you got $15 back at the register. I also had $5 in manufactures coupons and $6 in register coupons from a previous shopping trip. That turns out to be $4 for 6 bottles of fabric softner. Pretty Good huh.

My total savings today was $578.40. I spend $380.29. That is a total day's savings of 61%.

I don't shop like this everytime I go, but when there are deals on things I am using anyway, it pays to stock up while it is on sale.

For the benefit of my kids that are away, I will be posting good deals that I find in the ads on Wednesdays, both for Spokane and Provo area. Anyone wanting to benefit from my posts are welcome. I love to share!

I want my own.

2009-01-11T18:48:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I decided I needed to be more connected the outside world. I have always been horrible about keeping in touch with those people who have been in my life and move away. Sometimes it is just to the other side of town, but I am still horrible about keeping in touch with them.

A couple of my children have facebook accounts so I thought I would try that. It is really not what I was looking for. I really like the idea of being able to post pictures and have a journal type space for telling about my life and family. Facebook is fun, but not what I was looking for.

Our family went to Utah over the New Year weekend and Ray took many pictures with his new camera - a Christmas present from yours truly. Somehow he was introduced to Blogspot and he took off. I was told about Blogspot before, but was slow on the uptake. Ray beat me to it. However, his blog is more about his soapboxes and I would rather talk about our family. I also plan to post great deals I find for groceries and other stuff -- my new favorite hobby.

This will also be a great way to keep a journal. Something I need to do.