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Home > My Holiday and an Awesome Gift!!

My Holiday and an Awesome Gift!!

January 2nd, 2012 at 10:42 pm

I think I'll start off telling about my awesome gift!! Big Grin

Those of you who've read my blog the past few months may have noticed how often I mention how my dishes stack up ... and how I *really* need to get them washed. Well, on another frugal forum I visit I'd mentioned how the only thing my home really lacks is a dishwasher. Someone saw that and suggested that I get a portable dishwasher from Craigslist, etc.

I don't know how the idea had never crossed my mind before, but as soon as I saw it, I knew that was the answer I've been looking for. Smile

My dad and grandma and I were going to go out to the local outlet mall and do clothes shopping - my dad and aunt's gift to me. Instead though I told them about the portable dishwasher, and how I really couldn't think of any clothes I *really* needed (other than some new bras ...) ... They thought it was a terrific idea.

Dad and I went to Home Depot and Lowes to see if we could see any in person - but they only had ones that you could special order. So I ended up looking on Amazon, and found this:

Text is SPT and Link is http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004N4MSPO/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
SPT.

I paid an extra $4 to get one-day shipping, and it should be delivered to the mission office tomorrow. RW our mobile park manager said that he'd get someone to bring it to my place and help me lift it on the counter. Big Grin

Seriously ... if this was the *only* gift I got in all of 2011 and 2012, I would be an extremely happy camperette!! Big Grin

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I had a pretty enjoyable time overall with my dad and grandma in CA. We went up to Oak Glen the first Saturday I was there - where we saw this person who has three llamas in his yard. We also went to Santa Monica where we walked along the boardwalk and the pier, and dad and I took our first rollercoaster ride in about six+ years!! Then of course we hit Farmer's Market in LA where we ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Our waitress was really good - one of the few people who can keep up with my dad -- later found out that she'd graduated from college a few years earlier and had moved cross country to LA *after* paying off all her student loans, to pursue a career as a comedian. We all were pretty impressed. Smile

On another night we all went out to eat at a nice hotel/fancy restaurant called Mission Inn. It was a gift from my aunt to the three of us. The food was ok, but definitely not worth the cost. If any of us had been meat eaters, it probably would have been more cost worthy. (We all got the buffet.)

Something else I did which made me quite happy ... I closed my Compass Bank account! I then opened an account with BofA - it is one with NO fees and NO stipulations, other than you have to do any and all transaction online or via an ATM. There is a BofA ATM right next to the Walmart I shop at here ... so that works perfectly. For some reason I thought BofA was the bank you could do the phone scan of checks, but that is actually Chase. Oh well, as long as I can put cash/checks into the ATM, that is all I really need. I'll still use ING as my main bank.

Oh something else that made me happy ... dad and I checked at Costco about whether or not someone without a Costco membership could use a gift card to purchase things. We found out that it was true! So my dad bought me a $100 gift card (I was going to pay him back for it, but he later told me he wanted to cover it for me. Sweet.) I didn't get a chance to use it when I got back Sunday night, but I plan on stopping there after my seminar on the 18th. Big Grin My trunk will be filled with cat litter. Smile

--
Something kind of cool that happened on my trip back here on Sunday. I was at the gate in Phoenix waiting for my flight (which later turned out to be wrong because they changed gates on us ...) and the airline person who checks you in announced that the flight to Austin was way overbooked. They were offering to put people up in a hotel and a $325 voucher *no restrictions* to anyone who volunteered to be bumped. The lady sitting next to me (we both were using the electric plug) got up and volunteered. It turned out that the seat she gave up went to a young military man. Later as he got on the plane he came over to her and personally thanked her. Big Grin

--
Well, I was going to put in five hours at school today. However, when I went over there today I found out that the phone lines and internet were both down. So that put a big crimp on doing most of what I'd planned on doing. There were other things I *could* have done, but once I realized I couldn't do most of the other stuff ... I wimped out and went home. Big Grin

Tomorrow I'll be picking up a bunch of deliveries from the post office (hopefully!!!) -- books I ordered thanks to the $200 donation to the library. Since our system will still probably be down tomorrow, I'll go ahead and catalog the books at home. I should've taken home barcode/spine labels today to print -- will pick those up tomorrow.

I talked to our principal today. We're going to have our Christmas parties on Friday afternoon, but will not be rescheduling the Christmas program. I also found out that *this* is my week for morning prayer/cafe duty. A three-day week? I'll take it!! Now just have to find three prayers. Smile

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I was checking FB earlier this morning and saw that one of my coworkers had gotten food poisoning from an order of onion rings at BK. I also learned something disturbing (for a 20+ year vegetarian who loves onion rings from BK) and that is that BK makes their onion rings in grease that has meat particles. Intelligently, I think I probably already knew this ... but ignored it because of how much I love their onion rings. But now can no longer ignore the info. Sigh. Onion rings aren't all that good for me anyway.

I bought my coworker some baby wipes and went over and walked a dog that she's dog sitting (the dog only knows to go #2 on a walk ...). My coworker and I were discussing how many times we've gotten food poisoning here, as well as two restaurants in the area shut down due to health violations recently ... and both agreed that maybe just staying home and eating in was a better idea. Big Grin (considering that that is my plan anyway ... good to have some extra reasoning power behind it, right?)

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I had both of my Swagbucks AGC's come in during December. So right now I have a $10 credit on Amazon .... Also my dad had enough Swagbucks by Thursday for him to redeem his first card (which he's going to give to me.) Big Grin

I have almost 4500 Beezag points, so more than halfway to my next cash out. Big Grin

I think it is funny how Beezag videos are infiltrating all the different rewards websites. Both Swagbucks and Mypoints now have them. So it is possible to watch the same video for a reward 3 x in one day on the three different sites. Just mute the volume and keep your eyes out for the numbers, and you're good to go!! Big Grin

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Almost forgot -- New Year's Eve dad, grandma and I went to Pasadena and drove up and down Colorado Blvd. Unfortunately due to Sunday Blue laws, the parade wasn't til today -- so nobody was there. Frown We now have two bags of marshmallows prepared and ready for next year though!! The trip wasn't a total bust - we went through Sierra Madre and checked out all the Christmas lights. Most of the neighborhoods in that area were decked out in different themes. Very nice - especially considering that *very* few people in my dad and grandmas town did any decorating with lights.

9 Responses to “My Holiday and an Awesome Gift!!”

  1. PatientSaver Says:
    1325547845

    Well, you are full of news to report! Smile
    Costco is where i go to get my cat litter, too. those boxes sure are heavy.

  2. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1325550243

    As far as I can tell, Costco cat litter is the least expensive. So I can handle a little workout carrying the boxes Big Grin

    The canned food I get is $.40/can - so I'm hoping Costco can beat that too.

    I probably won't get there again til this summer - so I'm working on a list of things I'd like to stock up on that will be there. I still have toilet paper and paper towels left from the Costco trip I took with my mom in August. Smile

  3. Looking Forward Says:
    1325550868

    I have never seen a countertop dishwasher. How CUTE! And what a great idea.
    Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas.
    One cool thing I got and thought of you - Tickets for the Napa Valley Wine Train! Smile

  4. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1325551309

    How awesome! My brother right now is working on promotional videos for each of the options which will be attached to the confirmation emails -- his idea. Big Grin
    When are you planning on going? I'd love to hear what you think. Big Grin

  5. CB in the City Says:
    1325552010

    I didn't know there was such a thing as a countertop dishwasher. What a good idea! And a great gift.

  6. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1325554051

    Yep Smile It is the perfect size for one person who rarely entertains. It also is less than half the cost of the larger rolling portable dishwashers. My dad really wanted me to get one of the larger ones - I convinced him to go with the countertop one when I told him that my dishes would probably sit around in the larger one for 4 - 5 days or more before being washed, while in the smaller one I could easily justify a load every 2 - 3 days (or less).

  7. baselle Says:
    1325564963

    Brooklyn Girl, when she rented with the nutball landlord, either thought about or had a secret countertop dishwasher that she had to hide from the nutball landlord.

  8. Frugaltexan75 Says:
    1325567167

    Lol - Baselle I had to read your comment several times before it sunk in. I was thinking of one of MY previous landlords and how a portable dw would've been awesome ... Then I realized what you were saying. Big Grin

  9. LuckyRobin Says:
    1325805634

    I didn't know dishwashers like that existed. That would be great in an RV or something, too.

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