today at jen's house: Literally. Today at My House.

I have a wonderful memory of my Grandma's house in Xenia Ohio, the house on Detroit Street that I hope to someday own. I am standing in the dining room, on an 18x18" black iron heating grate, and there is warm air blowing from it. It is billowing out one of my many flannel nightgowns that my mom made for me. I am warm and happy and laughing. And it smells wonderful, like a Grandma's house should.

And now on to what probably should be several posts but are sort of a running line of thought.

1. I'M FREEZING. All the time. I thought this was NC! What the heck! It's only 22 degrees outside and I have no carpet downstairs except in my bedroom -- which is freezing!

And am I willing to give up my beautiful hardwood flooring to be warm? No way, Jose! I just wanna whine about it. This is a sign above my back door:

Busted.

2. GO this minute to 2nd Cup of Coffee and read Lidna's post for today. Enjoy laughing your head off as did I. You're welcome.

3. MAN O MAN DID I MAKE A KILLING USING COUPONS earlier this week. I used to subscribe to Teri's List -- also called "The Grocery Game." But living in a small town doesn't lend itself to all the savings I used to get. The stores here are smaller, the prices often higher and usually different.

So these days, I've been relying on various postings from the generous hearts of bloggers who will match the coupons to places like my local grocery and drugstores. Bug and I went over to KMart (which I never do -- some folks have an aversion to WalMart; my aversion is to KMart) and made out like a bandit with Super Double coupons. I saved something like $35 in coupons alone. I got about six things at Target -- original price was $11, then coupons brought it down to $8. Then I went over to Harris Teeter, where I saved about $30 in coupons.

Holy Discount, Batman! That's $76 in coupon savings!

All 3 of these stores are in the town that is 30 minutes south of me. But I think it was well worth the trip. If I can do this on a regular basis, I may be able to avoid Sam's Club trips all together.

And the best part? As I was leaving KMart, the lady behind me said "I just have to know how much you saved." She then told me she was the sister-in-law of a fellow blogger! I discovered The First Lady of Free! What a bonus!

4. I PROCTORED for the EOC's this week. Translation: I sat in as a cheater-checker for the end-of-course exams at the high school this week. Absolutely nothing to do with Proctology, thank goodness. I suppose you could have called me a proctologist this week, or possibly a proctorologist.

Or maybe not.

This voluntary service gave me some insight into what may possibly be a new job for me -- substitute teaching. I put in an application and had some friends write reference letters for me. We'll see if I make it into the lineup. We could certainly use the extra money, and I'd feel as if I were contributing more. And Babydoll could still stay home the rest of the year and be homeschooled, and I'd be able to drive the girls to and from the HS. Everybody wins.

5. THE SEWING ROOM. What a disaster. I hope today I can muster some motivation to clean it up and actually sew something. Barbie needs a new dress, and I finally have all the stuff. Can't wait to get that going because she's the ultimate model!

6. ON THE SUBJECT OF SAVING MONEY, I got into the attic last weekend and pulled out every stitch of clothing the girls have set aside as non-season or don't like anymore.

Honestly, I have enough to start my own consignment shop. Perhaps a good idea?

Or maybe not.

What I plan to do is maybe open my own Ebay store and call it Jen's Garage Sale! Any little bit of money I could make from selling this stuff would be great. What I can't sell, maybe I can refashion into something cool that would sell. And whatever I can't goes to the Thrift Store (which means a trip over there and possibly getting more cool stuff to refashion).

You just never know. I love the idea that necessity spurs on the motivation and creativity to make very cool, very innovative stuff. I am not bothered at all by the idea that there isn't enough money. After all, I have a beautiful house with enough to eat and plenty to wear, and my family's needs are met well -- even in abundance. Certainly I have nothing about which to complain. So there you go -- how cool is it that I have all this extra stuff with which to get creative?

7. THE CURSED DIET. I have GOT to get this extra weight off. I weigh now more than I did when I was pregnant with any of my children, including the twins! Good grief! I am combining Weight Watchers -- no meetings, but just counting points and writing it all down -- with the Flat Belly Diet. I really like what I've read about it, and I think the idea of MUFA's is good. So I try and stay within my range of points while eating the stuff on the FBD. So far it's working. I've resolved to get the FBD book from the library and get more meal plans.

8. DID I HAPPEN TO MENTION THE LAUNDRY? The "Mount Neverest" which occupies my small utility room? I am still doing it. And I haven't even begun on the four very large-ish plastic containers of cast-off clothing I got down from the attic.