samisma

Babies R Us I know their ad is typically small... but I'm praying for it to come out! I hope that they have the diaper deal again!

that pool table and air hockey table are coming home with me! going to have to rent a uhaul pickup!

i got my updated card list - thank you!

beanies/knit hats bookbags baseball hats scarves Temporary tattoos (?)

thank you!

Eve - just sent you a message. going to have to drop from the secret santa. still would like to do the card exchange. having some complications so I don't want to take the chance that I leave my gift exchange buddy in need of an elf. I don't want to be THAT (bad) santa who leaves someone with an empty stocking. on the plus side my due date is moving closer to the holidays!

Last year I had scored a brand new xbox at a great price before black friday so I got to walmart quite a few hours early and was waiting near their games that were very nicely priced. I was the first one there. It ended up being a group of 5 of us who waited by that stack for a few hours. Next to our stack were the tv's that others were waiting near us. When the plastic was removed I immediately grabbed the games I wanted for DH and my nephews. As I had them a woman (who had extremely long fake nails) decided she wanted what I had and so she smashed me into the display and tried to pin me to it to snatch the games out of my hands. Luckily someone from the group of 5 saw her and pulled her off of me. But I went home with some deep gashes on my face from her nails. I then went on with my shopping in the children's dept to get some clothes for dd. I ran into her again in that area where she tried to yank them out of my shopping cart. I was done all of my BF shopping by 4am, and when my husband woke at 7am it was quite a shock to him as I had my face gashed up as well as a fat lip and a black eye. All over some video games. Now I know a rational person would've given up the games. But I didn't feel I should have to as I had gotten there 4 hours before she had and I knew I couldn't afford to pay full price for all those games. DH however was not altogether thrilled with the appearance, but I also refused to give him the full story as to what the fight was over since they were his presents. This year I'm not going for games so it might not be as bad. We're not living in the city this year so it might not be as bad for that reason as well. I'm just not willing to take the chance of getting near trampled and getting bruised again given the fact that I will be close to my due date by then. I am just hoping that walmart and babies r us have their deals online. I remember in 2006 I got in line and waited overnight to score that diaper deal at babies r us and left with 3 shopping carts full of diapers and a cart full of baby food because of the combination of the sale prices and my coupons. I had no issues there. I might might might be willing to make the trek to the babies r us on the outskirts if they have a good deal like that again!

I figure every year I see a thread with this subject line so why not kick it off? By the time BF comes around I'll be huge and almost ready to pop. Being that last year I got in a bit of a scrap on BF and came home with some marks I'm going to play it safe and not go out BF shopping, but instead stick to online. I'm trying to train my new DH how to shop for deals, stick to a game plan, etc... So far I'm very nervous. So would someone be willing to train me how to shop online for BF? Is there a strategy needed? I'm thinking I'll only send him to the stores for the deals you can't get online. I just wish I could go out. I will probably go out later in the day when it's not so insane/crazed but I'm not overly excited about that.

If you get a soda stream let me know! I was an area manager for them in the NJ area (they were called soda club then) and i still have my machine. there are some neat recipes you can do! my machine is about... 9 years old now.

I'll update in the lounge. :) We had a bit of an extreme financial roller coaster so went on an extreme budget for quite a few months there.

I'm looking for a good deal on - DS Lite for DD - xbox games for my nephew - golf clubs for DH - baby clothes & nursery items (especially a bassinet) - household items since we've moved from an apt to a house

usually i only do the gift exchange, but now that we are finally living in a house and i don't have to worry about folks snagging my mail... count me in for the card exchange too!

just going by the list it is completely changing my plans. everything on my must get list is on here save one item. guess i'm hitting walmart and getting the one other item at TRU

Also if you click on the link at this page for more details it also says video game hardware systems. Which is perfect for me. Want to get DH the xbox360 so I'll get that and put it on layaway. wonder if they'll still give me the $50 gift card that's in the BF add?

:sigh: so i went up to where we have our layaway at lunch today since it's near my work. they wouldn't give me a straight answer, and the manager looked very uncomfortable. i cancelled the layaway since i didn't budget to pay it off early. we just put it on layaway friday, so rather safe then sorry.

I was thinking the same thing. We already have some things on layaway there....

Lamb with a Moroccan Spice Rub - good with just about anything, but traditionally we serve it with various steamed veggies, eggplant, puré de batata (mashed potatoes), etc. 1 tsp cumin seeds [or 1 tablespoon ground cumin] 1 tbs coriander seeds 1 tsp black peppercorns [or 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper] 1 tbs sweet paprika 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp allspice 20 threads saffron, finely broken 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/3 cup minced parsley zest of 1 lemon 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 leg of lamb, 5 to 6 pounds [bone in!!!] ***optional - 1/3 cup honey can be added to this OR 2 tbs brown sugar. This will give a nice sweet kick but it's not too overpowering. First Make the Spice Rub Toast cumin seeds and coriander seeds in a dry skillet over medium low heat, stirring frequently, for 5 or so minutes, until fragrant. Transfer to plate and let cool thoroughly. Grind cumin, coriander and peppercorns with a mortar and pestle or in a spice grinder. Combine the cumin mixture in a bowl with the remaining rub ingredients, stirring to thoroughly blend. Spread the rub evenly over the entire surface of the leg of lamb. It's easiest to spoon it on and then rub it in with your hands. Wrap the leg of lamb in plastic wrap and marinate, chilled, for 4 hours or longer. Remove from fridge for last half-hour of marinating to let it warm up slightly before roasting. Roasting the Lamb: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly oil a baking pan [just to make it easier to clean later] and place the leg of lamb in a rack in the pan. Roast in the center of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes per pound, rotating the pan once halfway through. Variations in ovens and the size of the leg of lamb will cause cooking times to vary quite a bit. Use a quick-read thermometer to check the lamb well before you think it should be done [make sure you don't hit the bone—that will mess up your temp reading]. You’re shooting for an internal temperature of anywhere from 130 to 145ºF. Remove from the oven and let it rest, tented lightly with foil, for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

hmm. totally getting the air hockey & foosball games for dh's little cousins.

I don't know how I'm going to budget this year. Usually it's a $300 limit which covered: dd, dd's nana, my godson my parents, my brother, my aunt & uncle, df (who was just a boyfriend at this time last year) But in a month I'll have all of the above, plus two nephews, and 6 little cousins who are very much like nieces & nephews to df, and a god-daughter, plus my df's parents, plus dd will have a new baby half-sister who should be born just days before christmas... oi. and df was laid off in april and trying so hard to find work but no bites yet. bah. at least he's taken care of - i got us a deal on the Christmas day game (cowboys vs cardinals) and he's a hardcore cowboys fan (figures i'm an eagles fan!). i've no idea what to do for the rest. double whammies: nephew has a birthday on new years' eve, goddaughter (df's) birthday is on new years day. oi. oi. oi.

I'm not sure what my BF routine will be like this year. It is sure to be insane. It'll be my first Thanksgiving as a wife... So not only do we have my family to deal with, but his family, and my ex's family is planning to see us on Thanksgiving (to visit my daughter). I'm plotting now ways to sneak out to get my shopping done!

I am more than willing to help. Let me know. I can probably get a deal set up with a local pack & ship place that I used to moonlight at.

So I was contacted by House Party asking if they could send the media to our party. I was all for it and then my guests spazzed. I'm inviting a lot of my DF's family since soon they'll be my inlaws. Didn't realize that all of them aren't here legally and so I had to tell HP no media because my soon-to-be-inlaws are afraid of getting found out. oish. I would've rathered the media showed up for the DiGiorno Party. We had a BLAST with that and the kids were thrilled.

I got the Ladies Night Souza party!!!!!!!!

Yes it is... DD's birthday is next month and we've been trying to figure out a way to pull it off. This has been extremely helpful. Thank you!