Alpha Pug

We have finally determined that Dora is the alpha pug in our household. Dog behavior is fascinating. Although Ruby can be quite controlling around the food bowl, Dora really is the top dog. Ruby acts submissive to Dora by rolling on her back and letting Dora lick her, but we have never seen Dora submit to Ruby.

This finally explains our biggest mystery: whenever Phil picks up Ruby in the presence of Dora, a nasty fight always breaks out. It doesn't happen if I pick up Ruby in front of Dora, or if we pick up Dora in front of Ruby. It's so strange. But we finally figured out that Dora gets mad when Ruby is physically lifted above her by Phil (who she probably sees as the "alpha" person) because it throws off their pug hierarchy.

So maybe this is jibberish to most of you reading this but it makes a lot of sense to me. We read that in order to prevent fights between the two of them, we need to respect Dora's alpha position by feeding her first, petting her first, and letting her outside first. This way there will be no confusion between Ruby and Dora about who's alpha.


And thus we've added a new nickname to Dora's already long list of nicknames: Alf.

I think it's over!!!

It has been just over a year since I started taking my CPA exams. I started with FAR, then BEC, then REG, and passed them all on the first try. Audit, on the other hand, was a whole different beast. This is partly because I've never done audit work (and never care to) and partly because I got cocky about passing the first 3 and stopped studying as hard. I first took the audit exam back in August, the day before we left for Hawaii. I guess I was understandably distracted, and no surprise - I didn't pass. Next I took it right after Thanksgiving. I should have studied a lot more, but it was only a few weeks after I had gotten back from my big trip, and, as Brian Regan might say, "I didn't take it serious!" 

Yesterday I took the audit exam for the third, yes, THIRD time. It's actually a little embarrassing to admit this. I'm not used to failing anything. (Although I did fail my driving exam on my 16th birthday because I rolled through a stop sign, but hello, it was in a parking lot and there was no one around!) I really did feel confident about this exam. Most of the questions looked quite familiar this time around! :) I should get results within about 4 weeks!! I hope, hope, hope that I am finally done with all these exams. I really should have gotten this out of the way 3 years ago while I was still in grad school!

Just call me the grocery bandit!

Oooh I am so excited that Ruth asked me about the Grocery Game! It's one of my favorite things. I seriously look forward to grocery shopping every single week! Before I started doing it, I found it really hard to keep our weekly grocery bill under $80, even if I bought everything generic. So I decided to give GG a try and I haven't stopped. You can sign up for a 4-week trial for $1, and it costs $10 every 8 weeks after that (the cost is minimal compared to what you'll find yourself saving if you stick to it).

Basically, you pick a grocery store near you and you get special access to a list that is published once a week. The list you subscribe to takes care of tracking ALL the store sales, ALL the special store promotions, ALL the available "blinkie" coupons that are set up around the store, and ALL the outstanding manufacturing coupons for your area. All of this information is compiled into an amazing, magical LIST that tells you exactly what the best deals are at your grocery store that week. You find yourself adjusting your purchasing habits by learning to stock up on things when they are super cheap. So during the first few months I did it, my overall spending didn't change much because I was stocking up. It took some getting used to at first - "Why am I buying 10 tubes of toothpaste? I only need one..." - but now that I have a good "stockpile", my weekly grocery spending is a LOT lower because I can pretty much cherry-pick the list.

Since becoming a Grocery Gamer my brand loyalties have changed and so have my perceptions of what's "expensive" at the store. It's now usually cheaper to go with brand names than it used to be to buy generic. For example, I prefer Crest toothpaste but I never pay more than $0.50 per tube. I also don't pay more than about $1.50 per box of cereal, usually less (but always name-brand). I like All Small & Mighty detergent but will not pay more than $2 per bottle. And my freezer is full of about 15 packages of Pillsbury cookie dough that I got for free - yes, free! (Looking back on it, I really should NOT have bought that much cookie dough regardless of the fact that it was free!!!) I also always get Softsoap hand soap for "more than free"; Tom Thumb pays me $0.05 to take it out of the store. That's because it goes on sale for $1.00 and Softsoap always puts out $0.35 coupons, which the store triples, taking $1.05 off my grocery bill. Love it!!!!

So, if you don't mind taking the time to buy papers every week and clip and organize your coupons, there is a TON of money to be saved by Grocery Gaming! Or, there's another site with a similar service offered at no charge (The Coupon Mom). I just prefer the layout and organization of GG, and I think it covers special promotions more thoroughly.

We are ready for Financial Peace!

We have decided to make some big changes in our spending habits! In anticipation of taking the Financial Peace University class, hopefully at our own church, we have already started taking steps to cut our spending, get out of debt (we're talking everything), and get a lifelong savings plan put into action.

So in anticipation of some BIG changes in habits we have taken the following steps:

1. We have cancelled our home phone. I was tired of paying $50 a month just for telemarketer calls, anyway - who needs it? Of course, this required installing a cell backup unit for our home security system (at a cost of $200) but that cost will be recovered in just a few months. So if you have our old home phone number, 972-237-xxxx, you can delete it because it isn't connected anymore. The funny thing about cancelling the home phone was how the lady "had to warn me" that I should keep the home phone for emergencies. What, I asked, I can't call 911 from my cell phone? "Well, it works differently and they might not be able to find you as quickly if you have an emergency. So, then, would you like to keep the account open?" Let's see... in my 27 years of life I have never needed to call 911 (except once as a kid I did it on accident and the police came to our house, sorry Mom and Dad)... sooo, should I continue paying $50 a month JUST IN CASE in the next 27 years I might need to call 911, but forget my address, and it might take the police an extra few minutes to show up? Thanks but no thanks, cancel the line. I'll take my chances.
2. We have also cancelled satellite ($50 a month). We decided that we don't need to be so dependent on TV for entertainment, especially when most of what we watch is on the networks anyway. When I called Time Warner to cancel, I got a million questions and they tried to up-sell me on a million different great "deals". Finally, when the lady realized I was serious, she offered me the $13 a month basic basic basic package. For $13 a month, they'll provide me with network channels only. What? Really? You want to charge me $13 a month for something that comes through FREE with an antenna???? No thanks.
3. Tivo also got the ax ($14 a month). I was truly sad to see Tivo go, but it doesn't work if you don't have cable or satellite so we cut it. Plus, last year Phil won a DVD player/writer that we can use to record our "must-see" TV shows (that would be LOST, and Heroes whenever it comes back). So that solves the Tivo problem. I really would be sad to have to miss LOST on the weeks I travel.
4. Finally, although I've done Grocery Game for the last 3 years, sometimes I get lazy and stop cutting coupons for a while. I did that a lot last year, in fact, so we were probably paying too much for groceries. But since January, I have stuck to it more. My best savings yet was 71%!!! Yes, 71%, I'm serious!!!

What else is new with us? Next weekend we are taking a trip to Athens and staying in the finest hotel they have to offer. Doesn't fit in with our new savings initiative, you say? Well, actually, that would be Athens, TEXAS and the finest hotel in town is the Holiday Inn Express. We're heading there for the Athens YMCA triathlon. It was the first triathlon I ever did, back in 2004. I remember it was a beautiful day but I was pretty miserable with a head cold. I completed the event anyway (just a sprint tri). I haven't been back since then but this year, Phil and I are both signed up because we wanted to have an event to work towards early in the season!

Thanks K-LOVE!

K-LOVE always sends me the most wonderful verses in the "Encouraging Word of the Day". Here are the most recent two that really spoke to me when I needed it:

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
2 Corinthians 4:7, NLT

As your words are taught, they give light; even the simple can understand them.
Psalm 119:130, NLT

I like the second verse because it reminds me of how Alistair Begg puts it: "The main things are the plain things." I am so grateful to God for helping me realize how simple the gift of salvation really is!

Seen at Costco

Seriously, before printing these boxes, shouldn't the manufacturer's marketing department check the name of their product for accuracy???

Why so cranky?

I went to a small college that loooooooves Robert Duvall, since he seems to be one of its few famous graduates ("one of [its] most notable alumni"). But maybe he's not such a nice guy after all...

http://www.tmz.com/tmz_main_video?titleid=1416853259