coupon schmoupon

Joe has started coupon-ing. And as any of you who know Joe will affirm, Joe does not do anything halfway. He doesn't even just do it all the way. He does it the holy-cow-man-get-a-hold-of-yourself-and-remember-there-are-other-things-in-life way. Many times this is an attribute that works well for him in his life. He's an extremely dedicated employee, a devoted father and husband, a loyal friend, and an amazing and focused student of anything and everything that interests him. And one heck of a coupon-er.

Now I can't really come down too hard on the coupon lifestyle. There have been a few times where he has come home proud as a peacock with a trunkload of groceries and other household items. He held his receipt in the air like the third tablet that was never brought down from the Mount (TIL NOW) and told me that he got $50 worth of stuff for A DOLLAR. Or something to that effect. And really, who wouldn't be impressed? So I pat him on the head and tell him what a man he is with his expandable file folder of newspaper clippings and help him unload his bounty.

And during the unloading is where my main problem with Joe's coupon frenzy comes in.

Of course I'm thrilled with the four boxes of cereal for a mere $2. And the free shampoo (FREE!). And the BOGO granola bars. And the...

I'm sorry... WHAT?

Oh yes, and then these as well...

(This may not seem so bad until you take into account that we don't own a Glade scented oil thingee to begin with. So refills seem a bit useless, do they not?)

Now Mr. Super-Coupon, of course, has infallible reasoning for these purchases. You see, the rebate for the GRAY HAIR DYE FOR MEN (I just feel that a product so ridiculous should be written in all caps) worked with the coupon so that they were basically paying YOU $1.50 to buy it! And the refills? Well they were free with Extra Care Bucks! And if you spent $20, then CVS (the Mecca of the coupon savant) gave you back $5! Who WOULDN'T buy these things? It's LOGIC.

Indeed.

One can't argue with such logic.

Instead, one must shake their head, roll their eyes, and be ever so thankful for extra, unused cabinet space in the kitchen, designating one lucky cabinet as a sort of Island for Misfit Coupon Purchases.

And then one must get to work on eating all that cereal.

m.i.a.

Hey blogosphere! Yet again I have to start an entry by apologizing for my lengthy absence. It's amazing the difference it makes to have a mobile baby as opposed to a non-mobile (immobile?) one. Laine requires a great deal more active supervision now than she did when I could plop her on a blanket by my feet while I typed. It gives me a whole new respect for some of my favorite mommy bloggers... it takes a great deal of time management and dedication to maintain a decent blog, let alone a really phenomenal one like some of these women have. But fortunately for you I am trying to get my life a little more organized and take better advantage of the little baby-free time I have (hallelujah for nap time, am I right?) and blogging is going to get squeezed into that Excel spreadsheet somewhere. While sometimes I dismiss it as a silly hobby, I feel it is a really valuable way of keeping track of myself and my family and I know that I will really enjoy looking back on even the most mundane of entries a few years down the line. And I enjoy having a creative outlet that I can share with whoever cares to read it. So, if you've been missing me in your Google reader, fear not... hopefully I'll be updating weekly from now on!

At least until Laine starts walking.