The Rest of the Story

Remember a couple of weeks ago on tax day when I told you the story about the Dog Walker and his free french fries? Well, there's more...

Now Bossy loves to express her opinions, both good and bad. If she gets a charred burger, she will be the first to let you know, but if you provide excellent service, she will let your manager know too. So a couple of weeks ago, the Dog Walker accidentally took his free coupon for Arby's Curly Fries to Sonic. The awesome workers at Sonic simply honored his coupon even though they don't have that policy and gave him the free fries.

When Bossy heard the story, she immediately got on her computer and fired off an email with a gracious thank you attached. (I didn't even think to do that...I was too busy laughing...) Today we got a letter from Sonic in the mail. I want to share part of it.

     "Thank you so much for writing in to the Sonic Hotline with the experience you had with Sonic and the curly fries. It meant so much that you took the time to write and tell us what happened. It's nice to hear favorable comments about our employees who sometimes go unnoticed for their hard work."

     "We passed your letter around to all management and we can honestly say it touched so many."

And guess what!?

The letter was stuffed full of free coupons...
 

Tax Relief Tuesday

See the resemblance?

I love a good freebie! Since Tuesday was Tax Day, several local businesses were offering "tax relief" treats. One of them was Panda Express and they gave away a yummy Angus beef entree.

The other freebie we sought out made even the whiny ones happy...an order of curly fries from Arby's. Those of us who were home decided to head over there for lunch. Then, when the school kids got home, Teach took them over for an after school snack. But the Dog Walker was out walking dogs, so he missed the second group. When he got home, I handed him his coupon and told him to head on over in his car and pick up his free order of fries.

Now Arby's is only a couple of miles from our house, so this seemed like a great idea. Then he was supposed to meet up with us so we could ride together to Panda Express. We sent the Drama Queen ahead with her truck full of kids while we waited for the Dog Walker to return. He showed up as expected and hopped in the van. It was only a short distance to Panda Express and since it was mid afternoon, they weren't terribly busy.

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We had to wait a few minutes, but eventually we were back in the van and on our way home. When we stopped in the driveway, the Dog Walker climbed out of the van and headed for his car. When he came back, he was carrying a small bag from Sonic.

"What's that?" I asked casually, thinking maybe he had stopped for one of their $1.19 cheeseburgers. The Sonic was only about a block away from the Arby's. He gave me a "duh" look, "That's my free fries." Now it was my turn to be surprised. "You got free fries from Sonic?" I asked incredulously. He just looked at me. "Of course I did," he replied, "you gave me a free coupon."

"That coupon was for Arby's!" Again I got that blank stare. "What did they say?" I asked. "I just told them I had a free coupon for curly fries so they gave me some," he said. I was getting a little frustrated. "Sonic doesn't even sell curly fries!" I nearly shouted. "Did they ask you for money?"

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Again, the "duh" look, "No. They just gave them to me." He shrugged his shoulders, "I had a free coupon," he replied. Then he hustled up the steps and into the house, calmly munching on a not-so-curly fry.

So if you are a Sonic worker and yesterday you took an Arby's coupon from a large Autistic kid, "Thank you!" It was probably easier to cough up that dollar from your own paycheck than try to explain it to him...you can see how well I did.

The County Fair

Hair feathers!

I’ve always been a sucker for the fair. I don’t remember a time when we weren’t involved in the County Fair. My grandma was a judge, but that didn’t help us win more blue ribbons. She was completely honest in her reviews and more than once I came home with the red or white. We participated through the 4H program as kids and I learned how to cook, care for kids, and sew…probably a few others too that I don’t remember at the moment.

Sewing was the one I enjoyed the most, although my mom said that I liked to push the pedal way too fast. She was our fearless leader and an amazing seamstress. The only problem was that she was so busy we usually ended up finishing our entries the week of the fair. When I was about 12, I was working on a cowl-neck striped knit sweater…(give me a break, it was the seventies!). It was late and I was tired, but the entry was due before noon the following day. Mom was hanging around, folding laundry or something, just in case I needed help. I was hunched over the sewing machine, pushing the pedal way too fast.

I finally finished setting in the second sleeve and I pulled out the scissors so that I could trim the seam allowances. This was not a good idea at 1:30 in the morning. Halfway through the second sleeve, I slashed a big gash in the sleeve itself. I was devastated! Mom hurried over to assess the damage. This was the last step on the shirt and I had totally spoiled it. Then the tears started. Mom took one look at me and sent me off to bed. Clearly I was in no position to begin unpicking.

When I awoke the following morning, something magical had happened. The shirt was complete and perfect! Had I dreamed the gash? Mom just smiled and we piled in the car to turn in my entry. I suppose I should have felt a little guilty when I received that blue ribbon, but the sleeve I put it looked good enough for blue too. I don’t have any pics from that era, but I do have some fun ones we took today at our own County Fair.

 We enjoyed the vendors’ booths and the kids won some little goodies…stuffed animals, candy, water bottles, pencils… We only bought one thing, and I just couldn’t resist the cute little grandma and grandpa giving the demonstration. It was called the Quilter’s Tacker. The grandpa had actually invented this little device that sets the tacks into the frames and then a different tool that pulled them back out. My grandma would have loved this product! At twenty bucks, the price was a little steep, but they were so nice… Teach spoiled all the girls by buying them hair feathers and the boys loved the Army booth and its video games. Gamer even got an alignment for his back that was supposed to help him feel better, but he doesn't look that happy to me.

We also participated in the Read and Ride program. All the kids between the ages of 5 and 15 did a little reading and then wrote reports on them to earn us some free ride passes to share. The little kids loved the motorcycles, but the big kids (including my sweetie) were all pretty dizzy when they climbed off the Tornado. The Dog Walker even headed to the dumpster and we worried that he was going to heave, but unlike last time, he managed to pull it together. We didn’t get to see the animals since the Drama Queen had to go to work, but since the fair comes back every year, I'm sure I'll be standing in line again next year.

My Grandmother

 If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you’ve heard me talk about my grandparents before. I grew up three blocks down the street from them and I spent lots of time there. My grandma was born in a tiny town (Serious! This town is so small the Post Office is a Tough Shed!) in central Utah in 1918 during the flu epidemic. She was in her early teens during the Great Depression and I remember listening to her tell a story about having to cut up a temple dress to make a white blouse for a program at school. 

She met and married her husband and they had my mom. When my grandma was in her early 20s, her husband had a stroke while he was swimming and he drowned. My mom was about 18 months old and my grandma was pregnant with her second child. She buried her husband and then the stress was too much for her and she lost the unborn child as well. It was just before the war and there weren’t many options for her. She started looking for a husband and that’s when she met my grandpa. Grandpa had a 7-year-old daughter and a 9-month-old son. His wife had died from complications of childbirth and he was forced to quit his job with the railroad so that he could take care of his kids. It was a good match for both of them. 

Grandma holding Bossy.

Grandma was always a very strong woman both physically and emotionally. She could out-walk me even in her 80s. She worked hard all of her life, mostly as a sales-clerk in a furniture store. (After she retired she offered to watch baby Bossy while I finished the school year.) Grandma taught me to work! My mom didn’t really like to make us work at home; she wanted to do most of the household chores herself, so I learned to clean a bathroom, wash dishes, and sweep a floor at Grandma’s house. She would pay us for our time, but only when we did the job exactly the way she wanted it done. She insisted that her floors be vacuumed three times in each spot, and very s-l-o-w-ly…

On Wednesday afternoons we had Primary after school. It was so fun to stop at Grandma’s store and visit with her for a few minutes before we headed across the street to the church. Sometimes she would take her break and walk next door with us to get a pop or an ice cream bar from Melba’s grocery store. Grandma always loved soda pop! She would buy it by the case and we were always welcome to help ourselves. 

Drama Queen, Sport, Grandma, and Taco, 2008

About once a month Grandma and mom would pull one or two of us out of school and take a trip to Provo for groceries and supplies. We loved going with Grandma because she always took us out for lunch and sometimes she bought us shoes or some other necessary clothing item. She was careful with her money because she was a child of the Depression, but she always had it to share if we had a need. 

Making hot pads.

 She still collects aluminum and she was super excited when the clerk handed her $80.00 last week for her cans. Because she doesn’t have the strength to crush them with her hands or her feet, she throws them on her driveway and runs over them with her car.

Grandpa died in 1989, three weeks after the Drama Queen was born. He spent his last couple of years in a nursing home about 35 miles away. Grandma drove over every day and helped care for him. She was always generous with her time and talents. She made hundreds of quilts and gave them away to those in need and to places like Primary Children’s Medical Center. She has done the same thing with hot pads and dishcloths. She recently celebrated her 93^rd birthday and though she has slowed down some, she can still tell some amazing stories and play a mean game of Pinochle. Happy Mothers’ Day, Grandma…I love you.

My Mother-in-law

 Mothers’ Day wouldn’t be complete without a tribute to my mother-in-law. She was born and raised in a small town in central Utah. She was an amazing student and an incredibly hard worker. She helped in her parents’ dairy every day. She met and married her husband when she was in her early 20s. He was more than 20 years older than her and a World War II vet with plenty of combat experience. Together they raised 6 children, my sweetie being the second oldest. I asked my sweetie to tell me some fun stories about her and for some reason, they all seemed to involve the TV! 

One night when he was standing outside talking to a friend, the front door opened, the TV flew unceremoniously onto the porch, took a nice bounce and landed in the flowerbed. No words were spoken as the door slammed shut. Another time they were all working in their huge and amazingly productive garden when the kids sneaked inside because they didn’t want to miss Gilligan’s Island. After about 20 minutes, she noticed that her helpers were missing, so she gathered her gardening shovel and headed for the house. When she discovered them all gathered around the TV, she took a swing at it with the shovel. But those were the good old days when a TV needed more that a shovel to break it. 

Mother and son

I was 17 when I met her for the first time. I convinced my sweetie that it was time for him to go back to church. He was sure that if he stepped foot in the building that it might crumble, but by then I had him wrapped around my little finger. So together we showed up at Sacrament meeting in his parents’ ward. His mother nearly passed out! She could hardly believe that he would randomly show up at church after 5 years, especially not with a girl she knew nothing about. Happily, she was kind to me from that very first day. 

Rolling eggs.

I only remember her yelling at me one time during the last 28 years and I probably deserved it. We were engaged by then and my sweetie had invited me to spend the night at his house. I don’t remember exactly why, but I stayed in the girls’ room with his little sisters and he slept in his own bed in a room at the top of the stairs. It was a room that everyone had to pass through so it was open and very public. I had an early class the following morning and he was supposed to get up early so I wasn’t late. I did my part, but when I walked into his room to go down the stairs, he was still snoozing in his bed. Apparently he hadn’t heard his alarm. 

Now first of all I want to point out that I was fully dressed in shorts and a t-shirt for my aerobics class! I even had my shoes on! But when he invited me to climb beneath the blanket and cuddle with him…well, I just couldn’t resist. Since he was in his pjs, I kept the sheet between us, but that didn’t stop his mom from coming totally unglued when she found us a few minutes later! She was finally appeased when we proved that we were both completely clothed and not even next to each other, but it was a mistake I was very careful not to repeat. 

With Gym Rat

 Over the years she has been very good to me, treating me mostly like one of her own children. When I was pregnant with Bossy, I was selling Tupperware to make a little extra money. My MIL, who is extremely shy, had told me over and over that she would hate a job like that. Then, when my water broke and I was suddenly in the hospital having a baby nearly a month early, my sweet MIL took over not one, but two parties for me. She demonstrated the products, took orders, visited with the guests, and then promptly gave me all the profits. She was always willing to share her recipes, her garden produce, her son, and her heart. Happy Mothers’ Day, Euvonna. 

At Bossy's high school graduation.

Food for Thought: Green Chili Enchiladas and Rainbow Cupcakes

Every year during March we go through about half a bottle of food coloring turning our regular dishes into a very unhealthy shade of green. On Dr. Suess’s birthday we always eat green eggs and ham and this year we added purple pancakes. My sweetie has a real problem eating food that is not the right color. When he called me from work on St. Patrick’s Day I told him so far I had only planned green jello and green bread. "That’s good," he said, "Most of the green will cook out of the bread." 

Boy was he wrong! I put the loaf of bread into the breadmaker but when I took out the food-coloring bottle, I didn’t notice that the tiny pour spout to keep me from dumping in half the bottle was not there. Oops! Then I got a phone call from Bossy. They were making green chili enchiladas and she wanted to bring her stuff over and share. Never one to turn down a free meal, I was happy to let her cook. 

Working on this particular dish reminded me of another time we were cooking together. The Gym Rat was in charge of the Munch ‘n Mingle for his church group last year. Now I raise my kids to take these sorts of responsibilities very seriously. Most people would simply arrange for milk and cookies every week…not my Gym Rat. He decided he was personally responsible for feeding more than 100 people every Sunday after church. So about 10:30 one Saturday night he showed up on our doorstep with grocery bags full of chicken, enchilada sauce, and tortillas. He figured we needed to make 130 enchiladas before we went to bed. 

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Bossy and Gamer came over to help. We finally finished around 2:30 AM. Since I knew he was tired, I offered to ride with the Gym Rat for 30 minutes to his church building so we could fill up the two large refrigerators with a dozen foil pans full of enchiladas. Unfortunately, someone had also decided to fill up the refrigerators with pies, so we had to arrange and rearrange to try and fit everything in. We got back to our house about 4:30 AM. It was a crazy night, but the enchiladas were a huge hit with his friends. After all of his hard work I don’t think he even got to eat one! 

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We are also including a new tradition Bossy started just this year. She found a recipe for Rainbow Cupcakes that are truly amazing if you have the patience to make them work (and you still have some green food coloring left). Remember there is only one more day to get yourself entered into the Easter Giveaway!

Chicken Enchiladas

2 large chicken breasts (cubed)

1 8 oz package of cream cheese or 1 can of cream of chicken soup (milder version)

1 4 oz can of diced green chilis

1 28oz cans of Enchilada sauce (we prefer green chili)

1-2 14 oz. packages of flour (or wheat flour) tortillas

Shredded Cheddar Jack as desired.

Cook chicken in a large skillet until juices run clear.  Add can of chilis and 1/2 can of enchilada sauce to chicken.  Stir.  Bring sauce to a a boil.  Spoon in cream cheese (or soup) stirring constantly.  Simmer until cream cheese is fully melted.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 X 13 glass pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray.  Place tortilla in pan spoon in about 1/4 cup of filling directly into the center.  Fold the tortilla in 1/2 and drag the top half lightly over filling slightly wetting the tortilla. Roll burrito style so enchiladas are about 1 inch thick.  Leaving ends untucked. Slide rolled enchilada edge side down to the bottom of the pan.  Repeat until pan is full.  Smother enchiladas with remain enchilada sauce and top with cheese as desired.  Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

(If you have left over sauce and don't want to make another pan it freezes well.  Use within a month.  Do not freeze rolled enchiladas they just fall apart.)

Rainbow Cupcakes

White Cake Mix (as prepared)

Food Coloring

Prepare cake mix as box directs.  Select rainbow colors.  (We used 8 colors.)  Divide batter evenly in small bowls for each color.  Use food coloring to mix colors to your preference.  The brighter the colors the prettier your cupcakes will be.  (Tip-If you hate trying to mix the perfect purple grab a box of new "Neon" food coloring.) 

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Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  Using a standard spoon scoop 1/2 a spoonful of each color layer into cups.  We started with red and ended with purple.  The red layer is the hardest.  You will probably use too much batter on the first try.  It will be okay just use less on a different color.  spoon each layer directly on top of the other.  If the batter doesn't touch the sides of the cups don't worry.  Continue with each layer until cups are 2/3s full and all colors are used.  Take the tray and gently tap the sides so the batter settles into the cups.  Bake as directed.  Frost and serve.  

The best part about these cupcakes was comparing them to each other after taking a bite.  We all sat around showing off the centers of our cupcakes.  It was fun to see the different patterns and waves.

Friday Freebies: Coupon Night

 
I am still so new to this blogging thing that I have to call Bossy every time I need to understand the rules.  She would love it if I would spend hours every day promoting various blogs and reading examples from others.  I prefer the writing part and I truly don't have time to spend more than a few minutes a day while Baby Doll is nursing, Curly is climbing on my back and kicking my chair, and Scout is pestering me for just one more book. 
 
That said, I have read some of the blogs she forwards to me and one of my favorites is "The Meanest Mom."  I want to be more like her when I grow up.  Today Bossy forwarded me a contest on her blog I couldn't say no to. The Meanest Mom, Walgreens, and BlogHer are teaming up and one lucky reader of her blog will win a $100 gift card to Walgreens. 

Since there are about 100 Walgreens in a 2-mile radius of my home, I've had plenty of opportunity to shop there.  I love their rebate program where you can go in and buy some weird thing you've never tried before and then get all of your money back.  Check out her contest here.  Be sure to tell her twelvemakesadozen sent you.  

Don't forget to enter in my giveaway.  I have enjoyed reading your emails and comments.  Don't forget to enable your email on your blogger account or leave an email in your comment so I can contact you if you win!  Submissions close TODAY Friday, Feb. 25th the winner will be contacted on the 27th.   Onto the Freebie Friday:

We love to eat out! To us, it means no dishes and no clean-up. The only problem is that it’s expensive! Although I haven’t come up with a cost-free method of eating out every night and twice a day on weekends, I have figured out a way we can eat out about once a month with very little cost. It’s called Coupon Night, and my kids think it’s great (mostly because we usually get at least two desserts). In most of our public schools, teachers give out lots of coupons. Our kids have received coupons for kids’ meals, chicken sandwiches, frozen yogurt, ice cream cones, cookies, movies, water-parks, and plenty of other things. We also cut out coupons from the local newspapers for free candy bars, buy 1 get 1 free dinners at fast food places, and other things that we can share. Then we find a night on our busy calendar when most of us are home, and we map out our strategy. 

It is important to plan our stops so that we actually have a meal before we get any desserts. We also want to make sure that everyone gets a share of our collective booty. Sometimes we have to supplement our coupons with a few dollars, but we try to keep our cash outlay at less than $10.00 for the night not counting gas. I have a large manila envelope on my desk where we stash all of these coupons until the chosen day. First, we gas up the van and get our free car wash. We’ve got to look good, even if we are being cheap! We might start at Fat Jacks pizza where three of our kids had earned free small pizzas. After getting their pizzas we head to Chick Fil A where we pick up four free chicken sandwiches and then stop in at Sonic and grab some buy 1 get 1 free hamburgers. We share and munch on our way to Smith’s. 

At Smith’s, we usually stop at the bakery and get free cookies. Then we grab a cart for a few more goodies. I have a couple of buy 1, get 1 free coupons for two-liter bottles of soda pop, so we pick up several kinds for later. On our way out of Smith’s, we head over to Menchis and everyone gets a frozen yogurt (free, with coupons, of course). We stop by the RedBox on our way home and pick up a couple of free movies. After we arrive at our house, we pour everyone a free soda, pop in one of our free movies, and sit back to relax and digest with no dishes, no clean-up, and no financial guilt.

Speaking of free food check this out: http://www.chick-fil-a.com/FreeFryDay.html 

Eat Mor Chikin

I know you were all looking forward to the rest of my dog story, but it will have to wait for a couple of days. I want to tell you about something fun that happened to us yesterday. My kids like to enter contests (you know, like my doctor story contest that ends tomorrow), particularly writing or art contests. So our local Chick Fil A sponsored a writing contest. It was open to grades K – 6 and the rules were pretty loose, you just had to write a story about the Chick Fil A cow. The prize was 52 free kid’s meals! And since we love Chick Fil A, that sounded like a pretty fun prize. 

So Crafty and Sport got right on that (ok, not really, it took some poking and prodding from their mom), but eventually they came up with some amazing stories. I ran them out to the Chick Fil A a couple of hours before the deadline. Then last Saturday we received an e-mail informing us that Crafty’s entry had been chosen as a Finalist. So we were invited to come to Chick Fil A for an awards ceremony and two of us could have a free dinner. We arrived at the restaurant about 10 minutes early and placed our order. I brought a bunch of us along to cheer her on so I had to buy dinner for everyone else. (Thank goodness for coupons! There were ten of us and I paid just over $16.00 and that even included drinks.) I was glad we were there early because by the time we got our order the place was packed. 

Anyway, after everyone was seated, the kids were called up five at a time in four different categories. Then they were invited to read their entries. Did I every mention that Crafty is shy and quiet? It became evident rather quickly that she was expected to read her entry out loud to this room full of people. She fidgeted in her seat. "Mom, you can read the story for me," she suggested. Some of the Kindergartners had their parents do their readings. "No," I said firmly. "You are perfectly capable of reading your story all by yourself." She shifted uncomfortably. "Dad?" He shook his head. "How about Princess?" I asked with a grin. Now the only person more shy and quiet in a crowd than Crafty is Princess who shook her head vigorously at the very thought of standing up in front of all of those people by herself. She is my girl who at 14 still cries when I make her go to a door to sell Girl Scout cookies. Finally the third/fourth grade category finalists were announced. 

Nervous Girl by ~themedusa

We sent Crafty to the front of the room by herself. She was fourth in line so she had to stand there while three other kids read their entries. When it was her turn at the microphone the lady in charge handed her entry to her and smiled at her expectantly. In fact, the whole room was waiting rather impatiently for her to begin. We had already sat through 13 stories and we were all ready for them to announce the winners so we could go home. Even the Chick Fil A cow mascot had gotten bored and walked out. 

 Crafty put her hand over the mike. "I don’t want to read it," she whispered. The room breathed a sigh of relief. One less story to listen to.  The lady took the mike back. She smiled her benevolent smile and glanced around the room. Obviously she wasn’t feeling our collective relief. "OK if I read it?" she asked Crafty sweetly. Crafty turned a little red around the ears and nodded her head slowly. She had one line in there about stapling the bad guys mouths shut. Hmmmm….. 

It took another half-hour for all the kids to read their entries. Sadly, Crafty wasn’t the grand prize winner, but she did get some fun prizes…a chapstick, bumper sticker, magnets, a pen, and a tiny stuffed cow. Oh yeah, and 2 free kids meals. Looks like we’ll be going back soon! (Eat mor chikin!)

Register with Chick Fil A for access to contests.

Cow Appreciation Day

Have you ever heard of Cow Appreciation Day? Neither had I until a couple of years ago. We don’t eat out very often for obvious reasons. There are a lot of us and even McDonalds dollar menu costs about $30.00 for a lunch that won’t keep them full until suppertime. So we weren’t that excited when we heard that they were building a new Chick Fil A in our hometown.

I had no idea how often we’d enjoy their yummy chicken sandwiches and at very reasonable prices, sometimes even free! Chick Fil A is very supportive of the schools by handing out coupons at various activities, often for free sandwiches or ice cream, but nothing is as good as Cow Appreciation Day.

It falls the second Friday of July (this year it is on the 8^th). When Bossy first told me about it, I thought she was crazy, but like her, I just can’t pass up the thought of a free meal even if it means I have to make a fool of myself. If you show up at the Chick Fil A dressed as a cow on the appointed day, you get a free meal! If they think your costume is only a partial cow (like a hat), they will give you just a sandwich instead of a sandwich, fries, and a drink. The first year we participated in this ritual, we got white t-shirts and I sewed black spots on them. Then we taped white spots to dark pants and headed to Chick Fil A. We were winners! We all received free food and a great time playing their carnival-type games and jumping in the bounce house.

Last year we decided this was something we wanted to be involved with each and every year it was offered, so I headed to the fabric store. When I got to Hancock Fabrics, I knew just what I was looking for, black and white cow print in something heavy enough for shorts. I was so excited to find exactly that on the clearance rack! I paid $1.15/yard for enough fabric to make shorts for just about everyone. With the cow shorts done, I needed to find something to give us a complete outfit. I had purchased some white painter’s caps several years ago from the Oriental Trading Company. With a black sharpie, we turned them into cow hats. All that was left was a white t-shirt and some black felt spots. (The shirts from the previous year had all frayed out.) Bossy came over and took the scraps of fabric home.  She returned with cow-tails some with yarn for hair for everyone.  We looked amazing! Or should I say "amooozing"! And if you start early, you can visit one Chick Fil A for lunch and a different one for dinner. It really makes me appreciate cows, coupons, and Chick Fil A.