Our neighbor, who we are not particularly fond of, called us yesterday evening. We knew he must want something, and we were right. He said his sister had a TV she wanted to sell. It was larger than the one we had, and the price sounded good, so Hubby told them to bring it up and let us look at it.

They did, and we liked it. So we bought it. We’re expecting our federal tax refund at the end of the week, so that should offset the damage.

We weren’t exactly in desperate need of a new TV, but we’ve been wanting a bigger one for a long time. Besides, the one in our bedroom has seen its better days. I’m glad we found a good deal on one anyway.

I love good iced tea. It has to be made just right, though. I don’t like it too sugary or not sweet enough, and it can’t be brewed too long. Non-tea drinkers just don’t understand what a difference such simple things can make.

I don’t even pretend to be any kind of tea connoisseur, though. I’m content with the store brand as long as it’s made correctly. There are plenty of people who won’t have anything but the finest tea, and that doesn’t come cheap. Take Uji Matcha green tea, for example. It costs $59.95 for twelve servings! But if you take the time to read about all that goes into it, it doesn’t sound all that unreasonable.

The Uji Matcha tea is made from leaves from one small grower in Japan. The grower will not increase production, and only makes the tea available to local sellers. O-Cha.com is the only place you can get it outside of Japan.

O-Cha carries many varieties of green tea. I was surprised to see just how many there are! Take a look and see for yourself.

I learned to read very young, and I loved to do so. When I was about six or seven years old, a friend of my big sister’s asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told him I wanted to be a writer. His response: “Why do you want to be a writer? They don’t make any money until they’re already dead.”

That didn’t deter me at the time, but I’ve come to realize that there isn’t a lot of money in writing unless you really hit it big. But I am making some money by blogging, so I guess in a small way I am living my dream. If I really buckled down maybe I could write a book and start making enough money to actually make a living by writing.

Therein lies my problem. I have a very hard time “buckling down” to do anything. Always have. I wasn’t one who had to study much to get good grades in school. When I had a tough teacher, I would just do whatever I could to BS my way through stuff and scrape by with a decent grade. So I don’t guess I ever really learned how to buckle down.

I’m not getting any younger. Maybe it’s time I taught myself to set goals and stick with them. I would love to get serious enough about writing to be able to do nothing but that for a living. It’s quite possible that I’m just rambling here… but then again maybe something will become of it.

It has been a long winter. But spring is just around the corner, and I can’t wait. I’m ready to dig out my spring clothes and bask in the warm sunshine! All I need is a nice new pair of sunglasses, and I’ll be all set.

I love the look of designer sunglasses, but the price is a bit outrageous on most of them. There are places where you can get them cheaper, however. You can score some stylish Prada Sunglasses at BestBuyEyeglasses for much less than you would pay in stores. The pair shown above, for example, can be had for almost $150 less than regular retail price!

You can use coupon code ETP5P to get 5% off of their already awesome prices. So if you are in the market for some great looking designer sunglasses, go to BestBuyEyeglasses and save big!

We got a quick dusting of snow yesterday during Pumpkin’s basketball game. But a dusting was all it amounted to. All of the local weather forecasts were calling for three to five inches. I happened to check the forecast on Weather Underground, and it was much closer. I think it called for a dusting to one or two inches.

Today the local weather said we would get three to eight inches of snow by tomorrow morning. Needless to say, after the track record they’ve had this winter, I was skeptical. So I checked Weather Underground. And lo and behold, they said the same thing. Uh-oh.

Up until now I had all but forgotten about Weather Underground, so I don’t know if they’ve been any more accurate than the others in the past. But if they are saying it too, I don’t suppose I’ll completely discount it. Snow is falling steadily right now, and if the sky is any indication we just may get a big one, relatively speaking.

There are lots of websites out there that offer medical information. Many of them, however, tend to talk over the heads of non-medical people, such as myself.

Healthadel.com tries not to do that. Their articles are short and sweet, and don’t throw a bunch of information that you don’t need at you. Their medical treatments information includes articles on a few topics I can use, such as stretch mark removal.

The site is relatively new, so there are many topics that are not yet covered. But for those of you who, like me, are tired of looking for medical information only to find a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that you can’t understand, it’s worth watching.

I have yet to see any snow. I’m not complaining in the least. But I guess I shouldn’t be counting my chickens before they hatch either.

The forecast said the snow should set in in the afternoon, so it still has plenty of time to make an appearance. I’ve seen conflicting reports about how much we will get- some said three to five inches, some said one to two. Like I’ve said before, we’ll get what we get.

When I was younger I thought bus tours would be boring. But when I was still in high school, I took a couple of class trips that included tours on charter buses. And I realized that they are actually pretty cool. You get to see the sights of wherever you go with someone who knows what’s what. And in most cases you don’t just ride, but you stop at some of the more fun and interesting places. A charter bus rental is a smart way to keep the costs down for such trips.

Motor coach rentals are an inexpensive way to travel. If you can get enough people together, you can split the fees and take a trip to wherever you wish. Or if you’re just out to have a good time with a busload of your friends, you can split a party bus rental.

Royal American Tours has some of the coolest party buses I’ve seen. They are luxury all the way, much nicer than any of the buses I’ve been on. They require all of their drivers to have at least ten years of experience, so there are no worries about getting the new guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing. They offer free quotes, so if you want to tour in the Los Angeles area give them a call.

Pumpkin brought home a painting she had done at school yesterday. I was quite impressed. It was very much abstract, but it rivaled much of the abstract art I’ve seen from real live artists. Of course I’m not prejudiced or anything.

Today she has spend a lot of time painting with watercolors. Each one she does is better than the last. I think I need to consider enrolling this kid in art classes. I’m all about encouraging her to do positive things that she enjoys.

Office supplies aren’t exactly something I think about day and night. I like to be able to get them quickly and effortlessly when I need them, and then forget about them until I need them again. Nowadays it’s easy to order such things online, so you don’t even have to bother making a trip to the store.

If you need ink for your inkjet or a toner cartridge, chances are you can find it at Office Supply Outfitters. They have compatible and remanufactured replacement cartridges for all the popular brands. Those can save you quite a bit of money compared to cartridges from the manufacturer. And all of their products come with a triple protection guarantee. You may return for any reason within 30 days for a refund or exchange. They are warranted against defects for one year. And finally if you find a better price on the compatible products within 30 days of purchase, they will refund your money.

Office Supply Outfitters also offers rebates, and discounts on multi-packs to save you even more money. And they offer 24 hour customer support by email or phone in case you need help choosing the right cartridge. With all those benefits, it would certainly pay to check with them first when shopping for ink and toner cartridges.