Matthew turns 10 (eek!) in a matter of…well, a month and a half, and I’m trying to think of something special we can do as a family to celebrate his move into double digits. When we went to Atlanta last month he was ALL about going to Medieval Times for dinner. Lucky for us, we don’t need to travel all the way to Georgie to feast on chicken and ale and watch knights joust, because we’ve got our very own Medieval Times location right in Kissimmee Florida. Jim and I went there 13 years ago on our honeymoon, but we’ve never taken the kids!

I’m thinking a long weekend in Kissimmee might be just the thing for a boy reaching the ripe old age of 10, and I can think of loads of activities to do, from using our Sea World passes to shopping at my favorite outlet malls to cooling off in one of the theme park water parks. And I know any kids of mine would LOVE to play laser tag!

Best of all, right now you don’t have to pay a thing to visit Kissimmee and the Central Florida area surrounding Orlando…if you’re lucky! You can enter to win a Kissimmee vacation and enjoy either a 3 day / 2 night weekend getaway for two or a week long vacation for four! Drawings are being held between now and June 1, 2009 so hurry up and enter!

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I hit CVS on my lunchbreak today and had a very profitable trip!

First things first – I ALWAYS stop and scan my CVS card at the coupon kiosk. Sometimes I get coupons…sometimes not. Today was a good day and the machine spit out a $5 off $20 purchase coupon good for 3 days only.

Among the first items to enter my cart were the bottles of Dawn soap on sale 2 for $2. When I bought two with my ECB card, I got $1ECB back…final cost $1.00 for 2!

Next I snagged two bags of the CVS brand candy. On another trip I had scanned my card at the coupon kiosk and received a $1 off 2 bags coupon. The bags were on sale for $.99 so the final cost with my coupon was 50 cents a bag. The candy is going into the Easter baskets for the kids.

I also took advantage of the TG Lee milk deal, buying 2 gallons and getting $2 in ECB back, making my final price $2 per gallon. And we go through a LOT of milk in our house!

I snagged a SpeedStick deoderant for Jim – on sale for $2.99 with $1 in EBC back making my final price $.99!

I used 2 new Softsoap coupons on a new dispenser and refill and got a free bottle of Suave with a coupon I received in the mail. I also used a few ECB from previous purchases, making my out of pocket for today only $14.59 (including tax) and I received $12 ECB for future purchases!

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Friday night Jim and I had the opportunity to attend a charity event thanks to his employer who was a major sponsor of the event. Overnight I went from slinging mac n’ cheese to my kids at home to mingling with the toast of Tampa society at the University of Tampa. The event is a major fundraiser for the group that sponsors the whole shindig, and you’ve never seen so many rich old white people in your LIFE. The average age of the room had to be at least 65. A few of Jim’s coworkers and their wives joined us and we did enjoy ourselves at the open bar and by eating all of the free shrimp we could get our hands on. I bid (on accident) on airfare vouches but somehow escaped without paying for them and Jim bid (on purpose) on a signed Tampa Bay Lightning jersey and won it for $50…because apparently you just can’t have enough autographed Lightning memorabilia!

Quite honestly, one event like that a year is enough for me. It’s fun to get dressed up and eat free food but I’m just as comfortable at home in my jammies serving up that mac n’ cheese!

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I watched The Kite Runner tonight, a movie I’ve been putting off seeing for 2 years. Read the book 3 years ago and had the chance to attend a preview of the film while I was in Las Vegas (Fall of 2007) but I didn’t. I put the disk on my Netflix queue and it arrived…back in November! Yes, it took me FIVE months to watch it. Couple of reasons:

1. The downstairs DVD player is a bit wonky and I can’t figure out if it’s completely died because I can’t get the thingamajig open to put a disk in. I dread pulling the whole thing out to diagnose it.
2. With the downstairs DVD player out of commission it means the only DVD player is up in my bedroom. I don’t typically want to watch a movie there because I like to eat and drink during movies and I don’t eat or drink in my bedroom.
3. My DVR is always packed full of goodies and it prevents me from watching my DVD’s from Netflix. This may sound silly, but I feel a sense of accomplishment when I get that DVR list down to 4 shows or less. Like I’ve really DONE something great. Don’t want to do laundry or organize my dirty desk, but damnit, I’ll watch 3 episodes of Heroes in a row and consider it a day well spent!

So today found me sick and sniffling and I deemed this afternoon a good time for a movie. I spent my morning in class (last one for 2 weeks!) and then came home and took a 3 or 4 hour nap. Knowing I had to get up at some point so that I could go BACK to bed tonight it seemed like a good time for The Kite Runner. Excellent movie by the way…I was just a bit shocked when I logged into Netflix to see what the next movie is that I’ll get and saw the estimated arrival date for The Kite Runner listed as “11/26/08″.

Excuse me now, I need to go watch 3 episodes of Chuck and clear ‘em off of my DVR in order to really consider this a productive day.

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I had a very successful lunchtime run to Wal-Greens and CVS today. Let’s begin with Wal-Greens, which is where I began my saving spree. I forgot my handy dandy list so I grabbed a weekly flyer and the March coupon book to guide me.

I didn’t need any help finding the huge endcap of Granier Fructis shampoos and conditioners though! They’re on sale for $2.99 and there’s a $2 off store coupon in the March coupon booklet. PLUS, I had two coupons, each for $1 off a shampoo or conditioner. I also snagged a bottle of Garnier Fructis spray gel that was good in the sale as well and used a $1 off coupon for a Garnier Fructis styling product. $2.99 – $2.00 (store coupon) = $.99 – $1.00 (manufacturers coupon) = 2 bottles of free conditioner and a bottle of free spray gel for ME! My next stop was the toothpaste aisle. Crest Pro-Health is on sale for $2.49 – Register Rewards* Good on Next Purchase $1 = Like Paying $1.49…except that I had a $.75 coupon so I paid $.74!

Still browsing toothpaste I spotted the Colgate Total Advanced on sale for $3.49 with a $2.50 off store coupon in the March Easy Saver Catalog. $3.49 – $2.50 = $.99 and I had a $1.00 off coupon, so not to be outdone by CVS….Wal-Greens paid me a penny to take home toothpaste.

My out of pocket total at Wal-Greens this afternoon was $2.68, and $.98 of that is tax! I also earned a $1 RR for next time.

Onward to CVS, where my savings weren’t as huge but I did use several ExtraCare Bucks I had accumulated over the past few weeks. I got:

4 Coke 12-packs – on sale for 4/$13 with $3 in ECB back
3 boxes of Cinnamin Toast Crunch – on sale for 3 for $10 with $5 in ECB back, plus I had a $1 off coupon
1 Big Red Gum in the new slim pack – coupon for a free package!
1 bottle of Palmolive dish soap – on sale for $1.49 with $1 in ECB back
1 Secret Flawless deoderant – on sale for $3.99 with $1 in ECB back plus I had a $2 off coupon
I used $17.98 in ECB I had previously earned and my total out of pocket was $7.60 including tax, plus I earned $10 in ECB!

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