Looking for a Deal?

Ok, so for those of you who haven’t been taking advantage of daily deal websites such as Groupon, you are truly missing out on some spectacular deals!

I’m always looking to save money, especially when I need to make an out of town trip.  In a few weeks we will be doing an over night trip to Chicago.  We all know how expensive the city can be, so I did a little digging and came up with some great deals.  I ended up booking our hotel room at Sax Chicago  through Travel Zoo for $109 and getting 50% off the $50 parking fee.  If you have ever had to pay for over night parking in Chicago then you know what a bargain that is in itself.  Today while going through my emails and rummaging around I found two restaurant deals.  The first one is for a place called Cemitas Puebla, a Mexican restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with host Guy Fieri.  What is their claim to fame you ask?   The Cemita Sandwich!  Yeah, I had no idea what the heck it was either, but if you click the link above,  you can see why it has sparked my interested.  So anyway, back to my deal for Cemitas Puebla…we will being getting a meal for two that consists of 1 Chalupa, 2 Cemitas, and 2 12oz. soft drinks all for a whopping $9 ($20 value).

My other restaurant deal came to me courtesy of  kbg deals, lunch for two at a new Jazz Café in the South Loop called Donna’s Café.  If you are looking for something on the lighter side with some relaxing Jazz music,  this seems to be the place.  The menu consists of specialty and made to order salads and sandwiches.  With a 4 star rating from 33 reviewers on Yelp,  I’m crossing my fingers that it is just as good as it sounds, but for $9 ($20 value), you better believe we’re going to give it a try.

I purchased each one of my restaurant deals at a 55% discount leaving me more money to spend on other things or to but back in my pocket and save for a rainy day.

Other past deals that I have personally purchased was a $10 coupon (Groupon) worth$20 for Samuel Mancino's.  We are big fans in our house of  Mancino’s so I definitely couldn’t pass it up.  In fact, I bought two of them.  It’s especially nice to have bought the coupons so cheap and use them for those night’s when you don’t feel like cooking or have nothing in the house to eat.

Another great site is 1 Sale a Day. I have gotten earbuds for $2 with FREE shipping and my most recent purchase was an  iPod/iPhone Cable for all of $1 each with FREE shipping.  Considering my teenager can’t keep up with anything, these were a very practical item for me to grab.  Everyday they have new deals in the categories of wireless, jewelry, family, and watches.  Definitely a site worth bookmarking or having emails sent to you.

For the handyman/woman in your life, One Tool a Day is a good one. With just literally one tool a day on special and low shipping, keep your eyes out for that perfect Christmas gift.

Now some of the sites have more than just items and dining for you to purchase.  Sites like Groupon, Living Social, kbg deals, and Travel Zoo all have destinations on them as well.  I saw a deal today on kbg deals for a 3-night stay for two adults plus two children in Kissimmee at Country Inn & Suites Orlando Maingate Calypso for $169 at 61% off ($432 value). Combine 3 vouchers, stay up to 9 nights!  Plus it includes a special late checkout time of 3 p.m., $20 Tiki Bar/resort credit, breakfast each day, and one picnic or grill kit with burgers and hot dogs, FREE access to mini-golf, FREE parking, plus a FREE shuttle to and from Disney and Universal.

I could go on and on and tell you about all sorts of deals, but it’s more fun to search the sites yourself!

And to All a Goodnight…

It has been a long time since I’ve blogged anything, guess I’ve just been lazy or my life is just that boring. Regardless, I am taking the time to share just how wonderful my husband and mother-in-law (mom as I refer to her) truly are.

My husband and I put up our Christmas tree yesterday and I was fussing again about not having a tree skirt. Well, I used to have a Mickey Mouse one with my maiden name (Orman) on it that my mother gave to me and my kid’s year’s ago. Last Christmas,  since both of the kid’s were staying with her she took it back. So back to putting up the tree… somewhere along the line,  my husband secretly called his mom to tell her that they needed to work on getting me a tree skirt because he knew how upset I was over my old one.  Just by luck, she was at The Christmas Tree Shoppe when he called, lol.  A few hours later her and her husband showed up with a tree skirt for me. It wasn’t just ANY tree skirt, it had the final words from ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas on it… And to All a Goodnight.  What makes it so special is that, every year she buy’s my husband and his brother  a different  ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas book, last year it was the one that she could record her voice. Which of course they give her a hard time and tell her that they don’t like, but in this family, TRADITON and FAMILY means EVERYTHING!

How did I get so lucky?

 

WalkMS:2011

We had a great time at Walk MS:2011!  There was a DJ that played awesome music, clowns and plenty of free food. Can’t wait for next year!

WalkMS:2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Kitty

I just have so many pictures of my kitty on my phone that I thought I would share

Princess Francesca Von Kitty Cat VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Walk MS:2011

I have been suffering with MS symptoms for about 5 years and was officially diagnosed on May 25, 2011. Everyday is a surprise, I never know what each day will bring. Some days I feel ok and others I struggle to function. I have now started doing injections three times a week that is supposed to slow down the progression of this disease. With taking these injections come the flu like symptoms afterwards, that's why I "Walk". For the days I can't remember what I did or said the day before, I "Walk". For the times that my legs fails me, I "Walk". For my family and my quality of life, I "Walk". Because there is no cure, I "Walk". Please help me and others like me to continue to "Walk".
My goal is to raise $1,000.00 before the Walk on September 18. Being diagnosed with MS has changed my life and my family's lives forever. There is NO cure for MS, that's why your donations are so important. The more money raised for the National MS Society, the more research they can continue to do to find a cure for this debilitating disease.
 
So please, even if you are not doing the Walk, please find it in your heart to donate to Team Laws. Every little bit helps, so even if you can only afford $5, $10 or $20, it helps! Passing this message along to others on your friends list would also be helpful. Please donate at: Team Laws
With this disease it is so easy to throw in the towel, and that is the worst thing we can do. - Teri Garr

Tonsillectomy/Uvulectomy Recovery

Well this is the first day since my surgery that I have felt decent enough to spend anytime on the computer. It has been quite the roller coaster of pain and emotions.

Thursday 8/4/2011- “The Big Day”, we had to be at the surgery center by 11:15am , with a surgery time of 12:15pm. They took me back to have me change into my beautiful gown and put on my even more attractive surgical cap. Then the nurse did my IV to get some fluids going.  After she was all done with me she went out to tell Jeff, my sister Cari that they could come back and sit with me. To my surprise, Christine (Jeff’s cousins wife) who works at the Clinic came down to visit with us as well.

After all the different doctors came in to talk to us about the surgery, they finally shewed Jeff, Cari and Christine out and took me off to surgery. As I was laying there on the table, I was growing more and more anxious, I was so thankful when Dr. Feelgood, as I called him, came in to knock me out. (panic attack avoided)

After waking up, the nurse brought me two Percocet to take. I really wasn’t feeling to bad at this point. I was just very tired and so happy to see Jeff and Cari.

We didn’t hang out for much longer and headed home.

After arriving at home, I was starving! Believe it or not, I had very little pain and made scrambled eggs. Christine surprised me once again by showing up later that evening with popsicles. So lucky to be in the same family as her. I was still hungry around 10:00pm or so, decided it was PANCAKE TIME! It was delicious.

Friday-Monday- Still not feeling too bad, between liquid ibubrofen and liquid percocet, it was all very tolerable and I was thinking, “ Hey this isn’t too bad at all.” Aside of the severe hunger pains, Thursday through Monday was ok. I did however have to sleep in the recliner.

Tuesday- Oh Tuesday, what a nightmare you have brought me! So nauseous, and so much pain in my throat and ears. A day spent throwing up and on the verge of tears is NOT my idea of a good time. If someone would have offered to put me out of my misery, I probably would have taken them up on it. I think the only time I left the recliner was to go to the bathroom. At this point even water didn’t want to stay down.

Wednesday-Woke up feeling so much better, at least I was no longer nauseous. I can’t wait for the night when I can cuddle up with my husband in bed again and stay there for the whole night. Laying flat puts such pressure on my ears that I gave up sleeping in the bed days ago. Not that I really get to sleep anyway. I can’t go but 30-45 minutes at a time without hydrating, otherwise my throat and ears REALLY hurt. I can see areas in my throat that no longer have a scab on it and it is just raw and red, those are the areas that hurt the most right now. Forget anything cold at this point because it is like razor blades.

Thursday-Sunday-It’s been about the same, the pain comes in waves in my throat and ears. I have managed to eat a beef and cheddar from Arby’s Saturday, not and easy task to get it down but I needed some solid food.  I guess the worst has been that my ears are killing me. Last night I couldn’t even recline to sleep because the further back I went the worse the pain and pressure in my ears got. I really just don’t have the patience for this recovery shit. I want to be able to eat my favorite foods and guzzle a beverage. Sips of anything is a chore to get down. I still can’t do cold at all because it’s like flames going down. Now I know what a fire eater must feel like.

I know I shouldn’t be complaining, it could all be so much worse, but damn it, I have seemed to miss out on so much this week. I know all of this will be worth it in a few weeks once I am fully recovered. The fact that I am able to sleep in the recliner, being flat on my back says a lot. Before, I would be waking myself up gasping for air from my throat blocking off my air supply. I am looking forward to that first pain free night of cuddling with my wonderful husband and sleeping like a baby,  ALL night !

Rebif

I received my Rebif today through Fed Ex and shortly after that I received a phone call from Rose, one of the Nurses from Rebif. We scheduled for her to come out for a home visit on Monday at 8:00pm. I know that seems late but they say it’s better to take your doses closer to bedtime because of the flu like symptoms that may occur.

I will be injecting, or should I say, Jeff will be injecting me, Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s. I just hope that it doesn’t burn like some of the other injections I have used in the past.