bountifulplate

The hubby went to a sports competition recently by himself that Lauren was participating in.  He was telling me that when he pulled out his wallet to pay the admission fee of $5.00, the cashier took a look at him and informed him there was a senior citizen "discount" available to anyone 60 and over. Since he met that  qualification, he was able to get in for free.  He also had someone ask him at the competition if he was another teammate's grandfather.  My husband likes to pride himself on the fact that he doesn't think he looks his age, so having both things happen within the span of a few hours might have bummed him out just a little :( When he was telling me all of this, it got me to thinking, what other kinds of senior citizen "discounts" are out there??? Has he already missed out on a bunch of savings??  Both my husband and I are considered to part of the "baby boomer" generation (born between 1946-1964). I remember thinking when

Before Lauren took off last weekend with her friends to go looking for a dress and pair of shoes for a dance at school, I told her that I had coupons for Kohl's and Payless.  Both my mom and my husband's parents used coupons.  Lauren has grown up watching both the hubby and I using them. I have taught my daughter well.  She used both of the coupons!  I went last week looking for some long pants and long sleeved shirts for Dominic at Sears. Even though I didn't have coupons, they had tons of winter clothes on clearance for men, women and kids and most of it was an additional 30% off.  I got Dominic two long sleeved shirts, two pairs of pants, and a fleece jacket.  For myself, I got a pair of jeans and two sweaters. Now is the best time to stock up on winter clothes.  Most of the stores are bringing in the spring and summer stuff.  Just about any store you go to will have at least one aisle (or at a minimum, a few shelves or racks) marked "clearance."  I went lookin

  Dominic's interest in reading has just exploded over the past couple of months.  I have discovered Dr. Seuss books at our local library that I don't ever remember reading when I was little.  I love the Dr. Seuss books because they have a lot of repetition, which is the best way to learn to read.  We are very fortunate that we have a library within a few miles of our house. They have a color coded system so you can look at the spine of the book and know if the reading level is correct.  At Dominic's last Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting in October (a once a year meeting to discuss his goals and objectives), they told me he is "fluently" reading at a first grade level.  Even though he is about halfway through third grade, I am a proud mom.  That was something I could have only dreamed about back when he would throw books across the room, slap them shut in my face, yell and run away! Something I thought of last week to get him to want to read even

Today, I was doing a little grocery shopping at one of the stores here in town.  I had a medium amount of items in my cart and was waiting for the gentleman ahead of me to finish checking out.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an elderly woman with about three items in her cart come up behind me.  I told her to go ahead of me since she only had a few items.  She seemed a little flustered and was telling me her kitty was out in her car. I guess she was hoping to stop briefly in the store, get what she needed and get out quickly. While we were waiting in line, she looked down into my cart and noticed I had some reduced yellow and orange peppers.  She was asking me if there were more and where they were in the store.  I told her they had plenty and they were in the back of the store.  I decided that it was easier for me to get out of line and get another bag of peppers, so I let her have mine.  I said, "I have my tennis shoes on and could use the exercise!" I have let people g

A few months ago, I was in my local library and a lady (and I think her son) came in.  They were having a very loud and intense discussion the entire time that they were in the library.  I was kind of curious as to whether the librarian was going to tell them to keep their voices down.  No employees of the library said anything to them and this lady and her son kept talking loudly until they left. I was raised to keep your voices low and/or whisper in the library.  I have worked really hard with Dominic to get him to understand that in different places (like a library)  you use a different tone or level of your voice.  I have a "buddy" that works at the library and when we bump into each other, I always make sure that she and I conduct our conversations quietly.  I looked at my library's website and found a "code of conduct" or as I like to call it, library "etiquette" rules.  There are actually 20 rules listed. Rule number ten said you can't sleep

One thing that has slowly evolved over the past couple of years with Dominic has been watching his true personality come through.  He is a lot like me in that we think similar things are funny and we both tend to be kind of silly sometimes. For the past couple of months, Dominic at least a few mornings a week, will take all of his sheets off his bed and toss them in the middle of the bedroom floor. When he does it, I will ask him, "so, do you think that's funny to take the sheets off your bed??"  His response is always the same, "YES!" Over the weekend, my husband was watching a football game on the television. It was the Washington Redskins game which is rarely on here where we live and the hubby was pretty engrossed in watching it. Dominic kept positioning himself right smack in front on my husband and kept sticking his finger up his nose. I was in the kitchen kind of chuckling to myself.  Another thing Dominic likes to do is to build a tower of wood

For about the past week, I've had an idea for a dessert that involves fruit and biscuits.  The hardest part has been deciding what to call it!! After looking through a bunch of cookbooks and researching online, I have it narrowed down to these - cobbler, slump or pandowdy.  To make it even harder, the hubby was telling me last night he was planning on eating this for breakfast. If he does that, would it still be considered a dessert? or would it be a breakfast cobbler, slump or pandowdy? What do you think this should be called? My husband was saying it doesn't matter what I call it, it just matters what it tastes like!! He had two helpings this morning for breakfast, so I guess that means he liked it :) Ingredients: 21-ounce can peach pie filling 8 pack refrigerated biscuits (any brand) 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 cup white sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9-inch pie pan with non-stick spray.  Pour filling into pa

The hubby and I had a conversation yesterday morning about resolutions.  He said he doesn't make New Year's resolutions because most people he knows can't keep them.  I've known my husband for over 22 years and I didn't know that about him :) I asked him if it was because most people make unrealistic resolutions and he said yes. I was watching a story on our local news station last night and they were interviewing the managers of different fitness centers in the area.  They were saying that they get a big increase in gym membership at the very beginning of the year, but then after a little while it drops off.  The reporter was asking why and one of the managers said something like, "most people want instant results, if they aren't losing two pounds a week they get discouraged."  One of my resolutions for 2013 is to continue to strive for good eating habits and make sure I find time for a 20-minute walk at least three times a week.  During different tim