Dewey's Pizza

Months ago, we saw a sign down the street from where we live that said "Dewey's Pizza opening in February 2009."

We have salivated since.

We loved this place when we lived in Cincinnati and were sad to find they didn't have a location here in Columbus. We tried the popular California Pizza Kitchen and it did not compare at all. So we've been left without....until now. Not only did one open in Columbus, but it's within walking distance of our house! I have a feeling we are going to be here entirely too much.


So they opened on Monday and we were planning on going at some point this week anyway. With the nice weather today, we decided to walk up and make a nice evening out of it. (Don't pay attention to Madeline's flood pants. She's growing up too fast and her wardrobe hasn't caught up yet.)
We love this place for two main reasons: 1) the pizza is absolutely delicious 2) the beer selection actually satisfies Andy's palate, which as some of you know, is hard to do. We got a large with half Ryan's Inferno (their seasonal Buffalo Chicken pizza) and half Billy Goat (Olive Oil, garlic, goat cheese, green peppers and more). It was pure heaven!


Madeline had a good time too.

They have a window into their kitchen where you can watch them make your pizza. There were all kinds of kids and the guys would throw flour up onto the window. Madeline loved this!

I can't wait to go back.

Online coupons

I’ve never been much of a penny pincher and I’m still not. But that doesn’t mean I can’t save a few bucks here and there. We don’t get the Sunday paper because, in my opinion, the Columbus newspaper sucks and it’s not enjoyable to read. We get the Wall Street Journal instead. So…no Sunday coupons. But I’m discovering online sites that have a lot of the same coupons anyway. I went out and got a coupon organizer and everything. I sorted the ones I already had this weekend. I know, exciting stuff, eh? Now I just need to take the next step and buy items on sale WITH a coupon….now that’s serious couponing (i.e. TheGroceryGame.com).

I’m getting a lot of my tips from free sites like www.moneysavingmom.com and www.stretchingabuckblog.com. I’m getting extra coupons from CouponSuzy.com and SmartSource.com. I think there might be others but I can’t remember at the moment.

Then there is this underground world of CVSing. CVS has this program whereby you buy certain products and you get money back, called Extra Care Bucks (ECB). I think that’s it in a nutshell. There are whole online blog tutorials about how to use the system to your advantage. It’s super confusing for the uninitiated but I hear it’s super easy once you get going. I haven’t delved into this realm yet. I need to get my couponing down first.

We also joined Upromise which gives us cash back to put towards college loans. We don't have to do anything extra that we weren't already doing. We just buy participating products on our registered credit cards and we get a certain % back. Easy peasy.

Big Guns!

I knew I had a good reason to skip my exercise class today. Madeline pulled herself up for the first time. We were so excited. She did it like 10 times in row (after falling down on her toosh each time). Andy caught some of it on tape, but then she wore herself out. She only seems to use her arms to get herself up at this point. She's got baby guns of steel.

So then we immediately went upstairs to move her mattress down to the next notch. If we didn't, I would worry about her climbing out and falling. Even though she isn't quite crawling yet, she can still get around.

Happy Valentine's Day from Madeline

8 months old

We are dangerously close to having a crawler. We haven't even thought about baby proofing yet. Eek!

She's up to 3 meals a day now with cereal and baby food. And daycare just started her on an afternoon snack of puffs.

She absolutely LOVES to stand. Those new ottomans we bought for the living room are perfect height for her too. She'll hold herself up on one of those playing with her toys. We still have to be behind her in case she falls, but she'll stand for a long time

Also, today she growled at me for the first time. Yes, that sweet little face gets mean when she doesn't get what she wants. She looked straight into my eyes, got this evil look on her face, clenched her fists and growled at me. I'm sure my Mom would say I'm getting a taste of my own medicine. hehe

Life is so fragile

Nothing like bitching about my small bathroom and then posting something like this.

My uncle is being taken off life support today. Hospice is coming in but I don't know what to expect yet. I imagine he will pass very quickly. We are all at peace with this decision. He was looking at living in a rehab facility or nursing home with 50% brain function and all the stuff that goes along with that. Jim would not want to live like this.

For those that don't know, he was in a tragic accident only less than two weeks ago. It’s been a roller coaster ride since. He's 61 years old and worked on a golf course as a maintenance guy in Florida. Don’t let his age fool you. He was a young 61 and Golf was his life. Last Monday, he and a bunch of his co-workers were headed out on a golf cart. He jumped on the back and the cart took off. Somehow he fell off and cracked his head on the cart path in 3 places. It hasn’t looked good from the beginning, but everyone held out hope that he would recover. He was unconscious until two days ago when he finally woke up. However, it’s not like he woke up and was okay again.

He is surrounded by family and I hope he passes peacefully.

Sometimes having to share a bathroom with one sink to get ready in the morning for work is enough to drive me to divorce court. Argh!

Top on my list for a new house......a master bathroom with TWO sinks or at least 2 full bathrooms.

Puffs a.k.a Baby Crack

I worship whoever invented puffs. For the uninitiated, they are like little baby fruit-flavored Cheetos. They are wonderful for many reasons:

1. Madeline LOVES them!! Her eyes get huge as soon as she sees the container.

2. They keep her entertained long enough for me to actually get something done around the house. She likes to pick them up and eat them herself and she isn't too good at this yet. So it takes her a long time to actually get one in her mouth. Alot end up on the floor or in her seat though. (The dogs are her shadow now more than ever.)

3. Because of #'s 1 and 2, these things are my savior! She will be mid-scream and I can get her to quiet down in 2 seconds once I pull out a puff.

Some parents don't leave the house without at least 2 binkies in tow for fear of a meltdown. Me....I make sure I have a whole baggy full of puffs.