Horrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Week

Have you ever read this book with the similar title? I've kind of felt like this was the week when nothing would go right.
Here's a quick laundry list:
-The Direct TV guy took an enternity to install my cable on Sunday (after he was 1.5 hours late). I really wanted to take a nap as I was coming down from a sugar high. Amanda and I had been baking.
-My furniture got delivered on Monday from NFM. YAY! Except the boxspring wouldn't fit up to the third floor. So their customer service contacted me, I ordered a split box, and was told I would get a $100 credit and free delivery. It's going to come on 12/29.
-Two days later in the mail, I received a charge for basically a second bed and a charge for delivery. Um, Hmmm....Still working on this.
-Qwest was supposed to come on Wednesday to install my internet, and a package would be delivered for my wireless. I did not need to be home. I was not home. I got done with my afternoon appointments and had a phone call that told me I needed to be home to install my internet. WTF??? Don't know when I'm going to get this done. Maybe next Wednesday.
-And last night, I locked myself out of my house. Pure genius.
-Tonight, when I was making dinner was a minor mishap (they have been getting smaller since the NFM issues), I set the smoke alarm off with my cooking. Which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but I was worried about the sprinkler system. It's only now that I'm remembering that those are heat sensored.
So yes, this week cannot end fast enough. Thankfully tomorrow night is a party at April's. :) And things will get better. I keep saying that, over and over.

Walgreens trip

This post takes my couponing skills to the max. I love a bargain, and I like to get things for free. Who doesn't? On Black Friday, I went out to Walgreens, I go there a lot to get stuff for cheap. I didn't do as well as I would have liked because I messed up on my second transaction due to being in a hurry.

Edit: Clarification - Register Rewards are a "catalina" like item that Walgreens provides on certain items every week. They print after you pay for the item on a seperate machine from the receipt. If you've ever looked at an ad you might notice the price might say "Toothpaste $2.99 but with $1 in Register Rewards it's like getting it for $1.99." All of these Black Friday items were Register Rewarded at the actual price of the item. So, if you have an actual manufacturer coupon, you're making money after the first transaction because you're just rolling the rewards back and forth. CVS is another chain drugstore that has a reward program, but we don't have them here in Omaha.
Also, Walgreens, occassionally provides in store coupon books. This use to be a monthly thing,

First Transaction:

Infusium 23 Conditioner  = $4.99

Johnson & Johnson Soap = $5.99

Total before coupons =  $10.98
Infusium 23 coupon = - $ 2.00

Total with 6% tax   =    $9.64 (out of pocket). And I also received $11 in Register Rewards(RR).

So I went to the next store and picked up three Dove Deodarants:

3($3.99) = $11.97 - $11.00RR = $0.97 + $0.72(tax) = $1.75 out of pocket

And since I screwed up, I only received $4 in RR and $1 Dove coupon. (Instead of $12 in RR and $3 in coupons)

Third trip:

Johnson bodywash - $5.99 - $4RR = $1.99 + $0.36 (tax) = $2.35 (out of pocket) and $6 in RR.

Fourth and final transaction:

Aquafresh toothpaste $1.99

Dove deodarant $3.50 (I don't know why it was cheaper)

Puzzles as filler 2 for $1

Total $6.49 - $6 in RR + $0.39 cents in tax = $0.88 cents out of pocket plus $6 in RR for later and another $1 dove coupon.

Total out of pocket: $14.62. I did some minor price checking at Target and managed to save about $20 (including tax) not including the $6 in Register Rewards that I have to use for a future purchase, so not too bad, but I could have done better. I also really wanted to get some 64 packs of crayons that were going to work out to be 99 cents for my CASA bags for this spring, but they weren't in any of the three stores I visited.

Payback time....

So, my boss thinks he's really funny. The type that's always pulling a practical joke on someone. Almost a year and a half ago, on the Friday before Nikki's wedding, I was the lucky recipient of one of his practical jokes. Along with the help of the other Nebraska marketing rep, Nate, and the branch underwriting manager, Cory, he had a Husker license plate holder installed on my car. We were holding marketing meetings at the West Des Moines branch. That day I left the branch in a complete rush - I was getting a haircut at 3:30. We were supposed to be done at 2. I ran out of the office at 3:25 and hauled it to my stylist (yes, I still get my haircut in WDM). I then ran out to my aunt's house and changed and met a friend for dinner. The next morning, I went to get a pedicure before meeting up with Jason and Amanda. I walked out of the pedicure to the almost empty parking lot and looked around. Hmmm...there's a car like mine from Nebraska, but it can't be mine, it has a Husker license plate holder. WTF?!?!?! I called Amanda to ask if she had a screwdriver. This problem had to be remedied and soon. The screw up with the practical joke was that a) my boss had mentioned a long time ago he'd had this Husker license plate holder and b) he put it on the back.

And so I waited for the right time. And waited and waited. I think my boss thought that I just forgot. My boss is a HUGE Ohio State fan and Nate is a Husker fan. I thought about doing something when I was trapped in the office last summer. I didn't have anything else to do. I considered decorating my boss's office. But there would still be the problem of Nate's car. So when the reminder about our trip to Rochester came along, I asked Nate if he wanted to carpool. Check. And did he want to drive? Check (Not that I didn't have a back up plan in place). My boss would of course drive up too. Check. I ordered a cheapo license plate holder from the U of M. Packed my screwdriver. And on Tuesday night launched my assault. The lovely ISU and U of M license plate holders are now on the front of their cars. Neither of them have said a thing. Yet. I'm thinking if I can get thru the weekend without them noticing, it'll be great.

On the Hunt

I headed out to a few open houses today in a few different areas of town. Mainly what I'm looking for is either a townhouse or condo. In a perfect world, it would have at least two bedrooms, 1.5 (or more) bathrooms and a two car garage. The amount of garage space is the most flexible thing. I also want a bigger kitchen than my teeny, tiny kitchen. I found out a few things in the process:

a)I need to get a realtor, these people can practically smell me coming and want my money. I realize that they work off commission and while they may be well intentioned, I'm just getting started - but some of them were really agressive. Almost creepy. I also need to get a realtor because the place that I've been watching online for awhile has never had an open house and I want to find out what the heck is wrong with it - Why hasn't it sold? Why is it so much cheaper than the other places in the complex? I've hypothisized that someone was murdered in the unit - though it doesn't really go with the neighborhood. I have an incredibly active imagination.

b) Just because it says "townhouse" don't assume it's actually a townhome. One place was listed as a townhome, but it was half a duplex and would require me to maintain the yard, exterior of the building (roof, siding of the home), and do snow removal. The only bonus was that there was a small annual fee for some commons areas as opposed to monthly dues. My job isn't really condusive to all that kind of stuff - which is why I want a townhouse/condo in the first place! ARRGH!!!

c) Need to remember to keep an open mind. I went to check out a place downtown, completely for fun and ended up liking it. It'd be fun to be able to walk to bars, restaurants and concerts. The kitchen and bathroom could use a little bit of updating, but it came with parking (bonus) and a secure building (bonus).