For the thrifty (actually, for everyone - who wouldn't want to turn down this deal?)

One of my co-workers discovered a wonderful website that offers discounted gift certificates for restaurants. When she first talked about it, I thought it was a scam, but she used the certificate and it worked, and I've used two since then that worked fine.

It's Restaurant.com. Normally, you can get a $25 gift certificate (you print it off the site after purchasing) for $10. There are often restrictions - the most common being that your bill has to be at least $35. I've also gotten a $10 certificate that required I spend $15.

Now, these aren't nationally known restaurants on the site; they are local places that are trying to drum up business. And, there aren't restaurants for every area. My mom tried this and came up with nothing within 15 miles of her house.

But, if you sign up for email updates, they regularly send discount codes. Last week, with my trusty 60% off coupon code, I got a $25 certificate for $4! Not bad, eh?

P.S. The 60% code is 89500 (expires 1/31/06) - enter it at checkout.

3 failed sweaters

You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything much about knitting lately. That's because, although I have been knitting, usually while I watch TV on evenings and on weekends, and finding it very relaxing and enjoyable, things just haven't been turning out right.

Actually, things have been turning out really wrong. The last three sweaters I've been working on all came out funny. I've just finished one (or come close enough to finishing to try it on), discovered it will not work at ALL, and tossed it aside. See?



But Thursday night, when I finished the beige-y hourglass sweater, I couldn't take it anymore. I cried. I woke Matt up from cold medicine induced sleep and cried. Then I decided I'm taking action. These babies are getting ripped back into usable yarn.

I am currently working on a scarf and a sock. I am thinking of another sweater to make with that red wool. But I've learned some lessons. I have to be more careful about gauge (how many stitches per inch) to make sure that it's not too small or too big. And I'm going to remind myself that taking the time to put all the stitches on scrap yarn to try it on is a good thing.

Hopefully I'll have something better to report soon.

I made a pot roast!

I had yesterday off work and decided to be productive around the house. I had stayed up until after 1 am to greet Matt when he arrived home from the airport, but I got up at 7:30 anyway. I cleaned windows and knit a lot and organized the hall closet and made tuna salad and saved $10 with coupons at the grocery store. I also cooked a pot roast that turned out pretty well. Sometimes when I am adventurous with fancy recipes (although I'm not sure that pot roast counts as fancy - it just seemed intimidating) Matt is less than enthusiastic. Nice, but sometimes I think he'd rather be eating spaghetti. Not last night though. He said he would definitely eat it again.

The bad news in all this accomplishment - it's rainy and cold (not a bad thing in itself, just not today), I have a headache, and no one came to my storytime today.

Snow, Snow, Snow!

Look what we woke up to this morning!

Matt's in New York at a conference and my mom is here keeping me company (and making some yummy chicken dishes). We southern girls were very excited to see the snow. There were also three deer in the woods next to the house, but I wasn't able to get a good picture of them.


Isn't it beautiful? Perfect for a Saturday in January.

So far, 2006 is not that different from 2005

We did go on a bit of a shopping spree on Monday with giftcards we had. That was fun.

And I've read two books - very girly-girl teen novels - Alice Alone by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Princess in Love by Meg Cabot.

I've got to start doing some more interesting things so I have something to write about here.

Happy New Year!

We did some exploring today with Matt's parents- went to Alpine Helen, GA, which is a total tourist trap town that is down in Bavarian style - all of it. The Wendy's, the hotels, the tacky t-shirt shops all look like what people in North GA think Germany looks like. Matt and I embraced the vibe. Take a look:



And then we went to Anna Ruby Falls near Helen. There's actually two falls and the tallest is 153 feet.



Don't we all look happy? I'm so happy I can't keep my eyes open!



Tonight: a fire with hot dogs and smores!

an end of the year update

My lovely friend Lydia pointed out yesterday that I posted nothing of my Christmas festivities. I don't think I have much to say about them. Pictures would speak better than words in this case, but our digital camera didn't attend any of the Christmas celebrations to document any car-riding, present-opening, cookie-baking, family-hugging, feast-eating or corporate worship-attending.

But we did all those things, I promise. We were at my parents for the Christmas weekend, arriving Friday, leaving Sunday. My little bro was there too, and it was low-key and relaxing. I enjoyed attending the Christmas Eve and Christmas worship. My mom's cooking is always fantastic. Very nice presents were exchanged. And we were sent home with baked goods.

We left Sunday to prepare for the arrival of Matt's parents at our house Monday morning. There was a dusting of snow on the mountaintops, but the Floridians seem to have brought warmer weather with them. Also more very nice presents and more baked goods. We lit a fire in our new outdoor fireplace/firepit thingy (gift from my thoughtful husband) and went out to dinner.

These last few days I've been at work, which I realize is a downside to full-time year-round employment. I've never
really had to deal with too much interference with my desire to travel and lounge about the last week or two of the year. Instead, all my co-workers are off with their families and I'm holding down the fort.

I am taking Friday - wait, that's tomorrow! - off and I get next Monday too. My New Years' Festivities? Shopping and hiking with Matt and the in-laws.

I baked and baked, but have no proof!

I just realized that I didn't take pictures of all the beautiful cookies and candy I made this weekend to give my co-workers. You'll have to take my word for it that I made good stuff. I was very inspired by several recipes on the Martha Stewart website. In fact, here's what I made:

Peppermint Bark
Dried Cranberry Shortbread Squares
Gingerbread Stars
And, from Rachael Ray, Fabulous Five-Minute Fudge with raisins and walnuts

I think Matt was rather sad to see all the goodies leaving the house. Actually, I was sad too. Maybe I'll be doing some more baking tonight!

No video games, no DVDS

I heard two really interesting stories this week on NPR about fostering children's creativity, thinking skills, and literacy.

Take a listen:
This one is about choosing quality toys for children (hey, big surprise, no video games, but legos are great!)
And this one is about those baby videos that say they make children smarter, but there's no scientific evidence to support those claims. In fact, pediatricians recommend that children under two not watch TV or videos at all because it's probably messing with their attention spans.

I love lasagne!

I made a pan last night and just finished some for lunch. It's a very easy recipe I found on a cooking website for kids, when I was cruising startsquad.org, which is a website that lists recommended websites for kids. It's sponsored by the NC state library and something I promote at work.

Anyhow, here's the recipe. I like to pretend it's healthy too, because of the spinach. I recommend using a pasta sauce with garlic in the flavor name.