Thrift Store Junkie

I love to shop for bargains and where else can you find real bargains other than a thrift store? There's a big thrift store next to a popular Vietnamese restaurant about 20 miles from where we live. I love Vietnamese food and after a meal at the restaurant we would head on towards the thrift store.

Among the items we always look out for and buy at the thrift store are educational toys, clothes for the kids, big toy cars for Duncan, and purses and backpacks for Denice.

Yesterday after the kids' reading lesson with Kathy, she suggested I get a Fisher Price educational toy where they can learn to repeat their letters, numbers, words and even spell. I don't need to get a new one, I told her, and showed her something similar to what she was referring to. It was something that I got at the thrift store.

Alphabet desk that I got from the thrift store.

Leap Pad, also from the thrift store.

The thrift store is an excellent place to find educational toys, and for only a fraction of the retail price!

Doug recently bought an interactive educational toy (see pic below), brand new at Toy 'R' Us, and the all the kids have to done with it was press one button after another. They do not do what the voice in the toy tells them to do. I think they need someone like Kathy help them focus and do what the voice in the toy tells them to do.

This interactive educational toy is excellent. It teaches letters and spelling, and even asks questions. With Kathy's guidance, I am positive that my kids will learn to recognize their letters, numbers and even read before the year is through! :-)

Feet and Footwear

Recently I bought a pair of Skechers shoes (see picture). They were on sale, and I cannot resist buying shoes especially when they are on sale!

I don't normally buy brand names when it comes to footwear, but that pair of Skechers looked comfortable and since the cold weather is coming, a new pair of shoes that cover the whole of my feet would come in handy.

The shoes are not as comfortable as they looked. I have been wearing these shoes regularly since I bought them. A few days ago, I started to feel some pain on the ball of my left foot.

The shape of the shoes feels strange to me. It doesn't seem to fit naturally on my feet. The shape is such that my weight does not seem to be distributed evenly on my feet. There seem to be more pressure on the outward side of my feet but it seems my left foot is the one that seem to experience more of it.

I wonder if the shape is more for American/European feet? Most Asians walk bare foot in the house and of course our toes are not strange looking and our feet are more straight looking when compared to people who wear shoes all the time even when in the house.

Late last year I bought a pair of Clarks sandals. That pair of sandals were also shaped strangely. They were more curved inwards. That pair of sandals were not comfortable for at least a couple of months but being sandals there was more room for my feet to get used to them.

As for my Skechers, I think I will have to get those special insoles so I can continue to wear them. The way they are hurting my feet, I don't think I can continue to wear them without hurting my feet further. :-(

Short Shopping Trip

This morning I made a quick run to Walmart because I wanted to get two white boards and dry erase marker pens for the kids. Kathy suggested using these little white boards for the kids to practice their writing on.

But before I headed for the stationary section at Walmart, I browsed the ladies' clothing section looking at the clearance items. There were some really good stuff on clearance, unfortunately they were not in my size. :-(

Then I headed for the electronics section. I've been thinking about getting a small flat panel TV, one that I can put next to my flat screen computer monitor. How's that for multi-tasking? I saw a 15" HD LCD flat screen Polaroid for under $250 and the 19" HD LCD flat screen Polaroid for almost $300. Unfortunately they were out of the items. I was told to check back in a few days, to see if their new stock has arrived.

Finally, I headed for the stationary aisle. I found the white boards which came with the dry erase marker pens. I bought an extra set of markers and also a set of eraser, and dry erase colored markers.

This evening Kathy and the kids used the new boards for the first time. The kids are really enjoying their lessons with Kathy. They look forward to seeing her every day now.

Save while you shop

When I shop at the grocery store I always look at the clearance items especially at the meat department. I am not too fussy about the freshness of my meats, as long as the grocery store can guarantee that the meat is still fit to eat!

This morning there was quite a large selection of meat that was on clearance. I bought a nice sized piece of pork that was already marinated in peppercorn. I also bought about two pounds of lean ground beef patties, and a packet of Italian turkey sausages.

Italian sausage and beef patties

I also bought 2 boxes of frozen pizza which were on sale. They are handy especially when I don't feel like cooking. Pop one in the oven, and dinner's ready!

I couldn't wait to put the marinated pork in the oven as soon as I got home. I had an early lunch of roasted pork with sweet potatoes, pineapple chunks and sliced tomatoes, and again for dinner.

Roast pork for lunch, and dinner! :-)

Gone Shooting

“A Canadian is sort of like an American, but without the gun”

This weekend we are going to visit my in-laws. They live in the beautiful San Luis Obispo area in the central coast. It is about a 6 hour drive there and I don't think we have been to visit them at all this year. They have been to visit us though at least twice this year. My father in-law had hip replacement surgery about 2 months ago. He still can't drive very far, err, but I think they did drive to Las Vegas last weekend! :-)

That's my sexy hand posing with a Beretta. :-)

Anyway, while there, Doug hopes to take me shooting at his parents' ranch. The ranch is somewhere in the hills and there are places there where we can shoot our guns. It has been years since I fired a gun. Doug and I talked about going to a shooting range here in Sacramento but with young kids and having to arrange for a baby sitter every time we want to go any where by ourselves is such a hassle. The other problem has been time. Doug has been really tied up with home improvement projects since the beginning of the year.

I was talking with my elderly neighbor three days ago and asked him if he was going to the Neighborhood Watch meeting at the police station that night. He said, "No." There have been a rash of burglaries and suspicious activity in our neighborhood the last several months. I often leave my windows open when I go to the store or drop the kids off at school. Now I am afraid to do it in case some burglars try to break into my house. My elderly neighbor said he leaves his windows open all day long and said if a burglar comes into his house, he doesn't know how the burglar is going leave the house. I understood what he meant and suggested, "In a stretcher?"

Doug shooting his Firestar .45 automatic when he went target shooting with friends last year.

That is why I need to be handy with my gun. Sounds extreme, doesn't it, but better to be safe than sorry. I have young kids in the house and having a loaded gun around is also not safe. Doug is teaching the kids about gun safety and telling them the difference between a toy gun and a real one. He's teaching them not to point a gun, even a toy one, at anyone even in jest. But it's hard to get Duncan to understand that because he loves to play with his toy "boom boom" and trying to shoot at things. He got all excited when his dad shot his BB gun at a dog that strayed into our back yard. He didn't hurt the dog, just wanted to scare it away from the back yard.

Hopefully the weather stays dry this weekend during our trip. Some rain is in the forecast. I won't be firing any guns if it is wet and muddy at the ranch! :-)