That is so Junior High!

I wrote this post a couple of years ago, but never posted it, probably because the feelings I express are very personal and vulnerable. But, I don't have that many readers, so, what they heck! Here you go guys:

Do you ever have a twinge of Junior High feeling flit across your heart?  I hope not, for your sake, because, for me, it is as unwelcome as snow after Mother's Day.  Just the act of writing those two lines has invited that awkward chest tightening yet again.  It's just, so, well, so Junior High.  What am I talking about?  I'm talking about the feeling that comes when either 1. I tell myself I am nerdy ( in a bad way), a fashion disaster, a blob of gelatinous cellulite ridden grossness, uncool, lacking in close friends. . . . I could go on, but you probably get the picture OR 2. Someone else acts in such a way as to make me feel like THEY think I am nerdy, a fashion disaster, uncool. . . . you get it right?

www.dreamstime.com

I really hate feeling that way.  To borrow a line from a Wicked song- it's loathing, unadulterated loathing, for my face, my hair, my clothing. Do they loathe it all?  Okay, I'm not really going around wondering that, at least not all of that at one time.  But, sometimes doubts creep in, whether initiated from me or from the outside. It's a bad feeling.

It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately- wondering where I fit in with the other people in my ward, my neighborhood, the school community, and the family.  I have a strong personality.  Maybe I offend people without meaning to do so.   I have a tender heart.  Maybe people don't really know that.  And I think way too much.

I think about the people in my ward who seem like they are really nice.  They are nice to my face, usually, but sometimes mean behind my back, and I hear about it later.  I think about the times I may have said something mean about someone else and forgive the people who did it to me.  But, I still wonder how many people really can't stand me. And I think about the people who have always been nice to me, but are just cooler than me, the groups that hang out together.  Every now and then,  I get invited to a fringe activity, but am never truly part of the group. I am not cool enough for them.  I don't dress well enough.  I don't wear makeup. Do I want to be part of that group or any group? Am I mad at them for not including me? No, not really. They can't have everyone in it.  But, knowing I'm not part of it just brings that nasty Junior High excluded feeling back again.

What group do I fit in with?
 I guess, none of them, not really.
 I'm a floater.


http://theblacksphere.net/2010/06/confessions-of-a-token-white-girl/
 I'm in a book club and I love all of the members.  For most of the 5 years it's been going, since I started it, I've been the youngest member.  Everyone is really nice to me, but it's not like we do stuff outside of book club.  I walk with a friend 5 days a week, and I do truly consider her to be my friend, but we don't call each other to chat or hang out. She's busy with her own large extended family that all live close by.  I even float with my church calling.  One week I might be subbing in the Nursery. Most weeks I'm switching between playing piano for the Primary and playing for Relief Society. I kind of feel like an outsider in both places because I'm not firmly planted in either.  I joined a block of the month quilting class, but even I know that I don't really fit in there, being a complete novice who doesn't even own a sewing machine.  Still, it's good sometimes to be uncomfortable.

I'm probably coming across as unhappy, but I'm not.  I have a lot of friends, just not a lot of close friends.  I don't have a lot of friends I call and chat with for no reason at all. I can do that with my mom and two of my sisters.  But, the awkward feeling does creep in with family, usually just with inlaws.  My inlaws are great, but naturally we don't always agree.  Over Christmas, we had a disagreement that was very upsetting to both sides.  It pitted my husband and I against his parents and siblings. Now I feel, just so Junior High when I am around them.  I know they are still mad at me. I get little clues like not being talked to for the first hour of a family get together.  It's hard to tell with that Junior High feeling.  There are other groups where I get that nasty JH feeling too.  Is it me, or is it them?  Or is it both?  Do I do this to people too?

When I was in Junior High I had a pretty big group of friends.  I was safe with them.  It was THE OTHERS whom I tried to avoid- the mean boy who made fun of me on the bus, the cheerleaders who laughed at me, the kids who ignored me.  It was all so uncomfortable all the time and the feeling there was one of too much caring of what other people thought.  And sometimes I let that creep into my heart still.  Cause I know I can't control them.  I can't make them like me.  I can't make them want to be my bosom buddy or invite me for a lunch date or to the movie.  And I really do have friends.  They just keep moving away, or I move away, or we're too busy to get together too often.  I just don't have a group.  That's not who I am.  I don't feel comfortable belonging to just one group.   I like to flit around myself and talk to a lot of people.  I like so many different people at church and enjoy spending time with many diverse ladies.

The price for that is that there usually isn't anyone saving me a seat.  The upside is that I can go and sit by someone who is sitting alone.  And that is what I usually do, because I usually ignore any Junior High feeling that creeps up on me, and think about the other people who might be feeling insecure themselves.  I like the girls who are 14 years younger than me- 20 year olds who just got married.  I like the people around my age. I like the ladies in their 40's and 50's who have nearly finished raising their brood.  I love the ladies 60 and above who have so much experience and wisdom to share.  I'm so glad that I'm not in Junior High anymore.  It's such an artificial environment and not the real world, at least not the world the way I choose to live in it.  Yes, I still see the clicks.  I still worry that my clothes aren't good enough.  But, they are fleeting moments of Junior Highesque apprehension, rather than life consuming worries.  Most of the time, I am comfortable in my own skin.  Thank goodness.  Do I still long for a kindred spirit to move in next door, somebody who is a perfect fit to become my BFF.  Yes. Who wouldn't?  But, if I had that, maybe I would lose the richness of a broad diversity of women in my life. Maybe keeping just a touch of the humility of Junior High in my life is part of God's plan for me.

Vanilla

I said I would write more than one post today, so I'm writing about vanilla.  Vanilla is important.
Do you understand?  VANILLA IS IMPORTANT.

If you don't like vanilla, stop reading now.  You are a robot without taste buds and I only want human readers.

I believe in vanilla.  More specifically, I believe in Mexican vanilla.

I would like to offer the disclaimer that I have never had super expensive real American vanilla with vanilla beans floating in it. But I have real vanilla from Costco and it tastes like, well, let me go smell it so I can really describe it to you accurately.  Okay, the Kirkland brand Pure Vanilla smells like alcohol and stale glazed donuts.


YUCKY! It costs around $6 for 16 ounces and has sugar in it . That's not cool.

And, did I mention that it doesn't taste good?

Okay, then you have your standard imitation vanilla.  It's around $2-$5 for anywhere between 2 and 16 ounces, depending on where you buy it, and it tastes like, well, watered down stale vanilla flavored glazed donuts.
Here is a link explaining what it is:
http://bakingbites.com/2013/08/what-is-imitation-vanilla/

My opinion on artifical vanilla can be summed up in two words: Not worthy

So, here's my point.  If you can't afford really good pure vanilla, which probably tastes fantastic, Mexican vanilla is the way to go.  Actually, I think it's the way to go even if you can afford expensive vanilla.

At Walmart, in the Mexican section, you can purchase an 8.4 ounce bottle of Molina Mexican Vanilla Blend for $1.50!  It has water,alcohol, pure vanilla extract, and vanillin ( from vanilla) in it- and some other things like coloring and preservatives.  And it's freaking delicious! It smells like vanilla should smell.  It smells like vanilla should taste.  It doesn't smell like alcohol or stale donuts.

Yummy!

And finally, if you are really lucky or can afford it, you can get super fine Mexican vanilla when your friends or relatives go to Mexico and bring it back to you in bottles that look like wine.  We used to get this all the time when we lived in Texas. But, alas, nobody loves me enough to bring me any here in Utah. So, we have to buy it online. My mom got some amazing Mexican vanilla online.  I think it cost about $15 for 32 ounces.

It was Vanilla Heaven.  I had one bottle about a year ago and now I am in need of more.- a lot more. It had a vanilla bean in the bottle, and it was really hard to even throw the bottle away because it smelled so good! But, I did throw away the bottle, and now I must go and implore my mother to tell me where she got it from!

Vanilla- it's important.  Mom, are you reading this?  I need more vanilla.  I'm willing to pay!

Yes, We Are Crazy

If people ask you a lot "Are you crazy?, do you think that increases the likelihood that you might actually be a little deficient upstairs?  Probably. So, I'm just going to come right out and admit that I am crazy.

You are most likely not surprised.

You might be surprised to learn that my husband is also crazy. Literally. But, the medicine really helps.
It's fun to make light of it, but I'm not kidding. Judd made no secret of his nervous breakdown last January.  It's been a LONG year.  His family has the genetics for mental illness.  It was a ticking time bomb. . . and boom! It went off.  Don't worry. I'm not betraying him by talking about this. It's not a secret, and it's not something to be ashamed about either.  Chemicals get out of whack, life gets stressful, and BAM!  One day you have a panic attack and you never feel better . Well, not you, but him.  It was really hard.  It took 5 months to get the correct dose of medicine.  It's a sickness, just like diabetes, that needs to be treated.

This extremely stressful life interruption came in the middle of a mid-life crisis.  I believe I mentioned this in a previous blog post.  Judd decided that we need more kids. He wanted to adopt teenage boys.  I called this "Judd's mid-life crisis".  He's like a barren woman.  It's kind of scary.

Long story short, and when I say long story I really mean LONG story, after MUCH discussion and prayer (I use the word discussion but that doesn't really do it all justice) I agreed to take the foster care classes. Let me back up a little.  I have something wrong with me. I've had two surgeries to attempt to repair a tear/hole inside of me that resulted from incomplete healing from a 4th degree episiotomy when I had my 2nd child.  TWO SURGERIES.  They cannot fix me. At least, they cannot fix me the ways they have tried.  The only option left is to have a "temporary" colostomy.  If you don't know what a colostomy is, look it up.  I would have one for about a year and have the repair surgery again, and then have the colostomy reversed after I healed.  I AM NOT DOING THIS, unless some day I have to do this.  Right now, I can live with it.  But, I am done having babies. I just can't risk it getting any worse and then needing the colostomy- not going there!
My second failed surgery was in November of 2012.  We had always talked about maybe adopting one day.  When we realized my body was definitely done, Judd started to look into adoption.

So, adoption is the only way we are going to have more kids.  And Judd wanted to adopt older kids.
We "discussed" this a lot.  He had specific kids picked out from this website of waiting children.  We took a break from the classes while he got stable on his meds. Then we resumed them.  We continued" discussing".

In the end, in light of keeping this long story fairly short, the specific kids he wanted, that I did not want, became unavailable.  I had nothing against those kids personally, but I feel strongly about only bringing little kids into our home right now.  With 4 little girls, I don't feel comfortable adding non-related older boys.

We finished the 32 hours of classes. We were fingerprinted and background checked.  We filled out the paperwork.  We cleaned out our "spare" bedroom.  This took months and considerable creativity since we were using that room to house Emmeline's dresser and dresses, the sewing machine and supplies, half of our towels, a couple hundred children's books, a computer on a desk and two filing cabinets. And the closet was being used for storage.  It was REALLY hard to relocate those things into a house that was already busting at the seams. But, I did it.  And the house doesn't feel more crowded.  We emptied out the room and bought a bunk bed. A few days ago we added a little Cars toddler bed. The room is ready.

Last week, we had a homestudy.  This consisted of two interviews on separate days, and also a house inspection.  We had to lock up all of our medicines and cleaners, show we had smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, outlet plugs, a room prepared, window well covers( still working on those), and other safety measures in place.

I was terrified for the homestudy.  It ended up being a fairly pleasant experience. The kids didn't say anything to get THEMSELVES removed from our home, so we call that a success. The lady was nice, and in the end, after a lot of discussion, she decided we should be licensed and that she would recommend placements between the ages of 0-5.

Now, we are just waiting on the homestudy to be written up and the window well covers to be made.  I'm paying a friend to make some out of wood to save us some money. The custom ones are incredibly expensive.

And then, we could get a placement at any time.  We will be licensed for two kids, but I will only take one until Reuben is driving, since my car only has room for 8 people.  I don't want to be stuck at home this summer or have to leave a kid behind when we go do fun things.

You think we are crazy, right?  That's okay.  I already admitted that at the beginning of this post.  I think we are crazy too.  But, I also feel peace about this, and I've spent more time praying about this than, well, anything in my life. I'm taking it one step at a time.

What can we expect?  We can expect little kids who have had hard lives and need a lot of attention, love, and patience.  We can expect weekly visits with their parent(s) and possibly weekly visits for therapy., and also court dates. There will be dentist and doctor visits, probably more than my kids or yours need, at least at first.  80% of children who are taken away by CPS are eventually returned to their parent(s).  So, we can expect to fall in love with a bunch of kids and then give them back.  We can probably expect to foster for 2-3 years before we get to adopt a child, someone with a parent who does not comply with the necessary steps to achieve reunification ( getting their kid(s) back).  In Utah, there is a 12 months limit for parents to pull it together.  It cannot go longer than that for the child.  It can be shorter, but never longer.  They will either become"legally free" or be reunified.  Sometimes, they end up being placed with a family member that is located after a search.

We cannot leave foster kids in the care of teenagers. So, we will be looking for some grown up babysitters who would like to make some extra money to tend a foster kid so we can still go on dates.

I don't know exactly what to expect.  I know it's going to be hard, but I feel peace about moving forward with this, so we're doing it.  I don't know what the outcome is going to be. But, I don't need to know right now.  It's enough that I feel peaceful about this.  I follow the peace.

Braces Off!

Here is a picture of me from when I got my braces on in August of 2011.  I intended to do posts along the way, but well, I didn't .  Sorry.

So, today is the day.  I"m getting them off.  I'm experiencing a mixture of extreme excitement and nervousness.  I have not been a great flosser, and I'm pretty sure I've got some decay. Hopefully nothing too bad, but it's too late now.  I'll find out about that next week when I see the dentist.

Ready for the removal

There were moments when I thought today would never come.  It's been a hard journey.  Wearing braces isn't such a big deal, but daily pain for over a year is kind of stinky.  Major jaw surgery is rather uncomfortable. A process that has lasted over 3 years is a little bit tiring.

  I'm so glad it's done!  I know the retainer won't be my favorite thing to wear, but I'll be stuck like glue to my retainers. Actually, I will be stuck with glue to the bottom retainer.  And I'll wear the top one religiously. I don't EVER want my teeth to move again!

Right now I'm planning on a sparkly, rainbow, glow in the dark retainer.  I might change my mind when I see the options, but whatever I pick, it will be fantastically juvenile. Hey!  I'm a grown up. I can do that if I want to!

Well, I'm off!  The wait will be very short for you, since I'll just keep writing when I get back.  But for me. . . the nerves are killing me!

Two and a half hours later.

 Wow! Didn't that go fast for you?

After some gentle teasing about how I was not going to get my braces off today. . .the orthodontist said. "Take 'em off!'

Bands of Death

No more bands of death!  My hand looks really creepy in this photo. It does not look that creepy in real life.

wire clippers

No more sleeping with wire clippers by my nightstand!

Did you know it only takes a few minutes to take braces off?  Impressive.  It didn't hurt too much.  Okay, it did hurt, but I've had much worse. It was fleeting.  My teeth all appear to be intact.  My back two top molars do have some serious receded gums and extreme sensitivity- so maybe they are toast and maybe I need gum grafts/root canals/crowns.  I'm just not even going to think about that right now.  That will be a discussion with the dentist next week.

I got a permanent retainer glued on the bottom.  It feels creepy but I'm sure I'll get used to it, and I can always switch to a removable one if it bothers me.  Maybe after my teeth have settled down and I'm just sleeping in my retainer at night I will get a removable one for the bottom.  Anyway, it was someone torturous to have that retainer put in.  My mouth was help open with some plastic contraption and I was stuffed full of cotton for about 20 minutes while she glued and glued and glued.  The really bad part is how you cannot close your mouth and your tongue is getting pushed back so you feel like you are being gagged.  I only had one moment where I considered panicking and ripping the thing out, but I made it through.

After the retainer got glued in I had impressions made- 2 on top and one on bottom and one bite plate.  I had pina colada goo.  It was a pretty pleasant flavor.  The stuff sets up in about 45 seconds, so it isn't too awful to have your tongue pushed back choking you for that part.

So, here are the pictures you've been waiting for.


August 2011

September 2013

Obviously, the lighting is different. My teeth and skin are actually the same color, they just look different due to the light.   The differences are pretty subtle since I had braces for a bite issue and not due to having really crooked teeth.  My teeth fit together better now.  That is all that matters to me.

Happy Becky!

And I got presents too!

This water bottle contains all kinds of stuff I wasn't supposed to eat during the last two years, but when I felt good enough to eat it, let me tell you, I ate whatever I felt like, including all of the forbidden foods. The only thing I cannot eat anymore is really hard food like raw carrots.  I may never be able to eat them again, but I'm going to give it a try again in a few weeks. 

I get my retainer on Thursday. It will be rainbow sparkly.  We decided not to do glow in the dark because it messes up the sparkly. 

So, I'm done.  It happened. Tonight I will sleep without the bands holding my teeth in a tight clench, my companion for over a year.  

Time for a new family photo! 

Clara -Episode Baptism Day

Choosing names has always been very difficult for my husband and me.  So, 8 years ago, when we both liked the name Clara, we decided that would be our baby's name if she was a girl.  We didn't find out the gender ahead of time.  We were living in Holladay, Utah, in the very same ward that Judd's grandparents used to live in, and there is a picture in the primary room with a plaque honoring his Grandmother- Lucille Pitts. So, we thought it fitting, since we were having this baby in that ward, to use the middle name Lucille.  When she came out a girl, we named her Clara Lucille. We didn't know what the names meant before we selected them, but that's important to me, so I looked it up.  Clara Lucille means "Bright, Bringer of Light".  For anyone who knows Clara, you know that this meaning fits her perfectly. The beautiful combination of those two names is like a little whispering from God to me saying, "Here is a special child.  And I'm loaning her to you. Let her light shine!"

Clara can be a difficult child- impulsive, loud, active, wild.  I thought she was going to kill me between the ages of 2 and 4. My journal is full of entries about her coating her baby sister with various substances like toothpaste, pudding, desitin, or markers. She was just really hard.  I remember nearly having a nervous breakdown when the nursery leader's husband brought her to me 30 seconds after I dropped her off, telling me she had just bitten his wife and she was kicked out. And I marched her back down and stayed with her the whole time, because, it's just not okay to kick a kid out of nursery.  Then the next week that leader asked me to substitute in nursery. Well, she asked me by voice mail. I didn't return her call because I was at my limit with my little spit fire.  I never got a break from her. NEVER!  We couldn't afford a babysitter. She was too young for preschool. I had a baby when Clara was 23 months old and I was really tired.  My oldest child was 8, and I had 5 kids.  It was a hard time as a mother.  Really hard.

Clara did calm down, somewhat. But, nothing can quench her spirit. That kid practically glows.  She's hilarious.  She once made a dollar picking the neighbor's flowers and then going down the street selling them to those same neighbors.

She knows EVERYBODY on our street, young and old, and it's mostly people a lot older than her.  She invites 50 year old neighbors to her birthday party, makes them presents for their birthdays, and visits them constantly.

Clara marches to the beat of an unseen drummer.  Sometimes I think it's a very slow drummer.  She doesn't know what it means to hurry, at least not when she's getting ready for school.

But, if she sees a neighbor out for a walk, she blasts out the front door to hug them and visit. It doesn't matter who it is.  She's just always been that way.

She really is a bright little bringer of light.  It's who she is.

And today she will be baptized and officially become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

My half joke about Clara has always been that she will be a powerful force in this world, for good or evil, depending on which she chooses.  But, I'm only half joking.  I'm joking about the evil part.  I know she will choose good. She has too much light in her to do anything else.  She is amazing. If you know her, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's kind of hard to describe. You really need to spend time with her.  You need to see her in action.  Like yesterday at the park, she spent the better part of an hour visiting with some kid's Grandma.  Last year she sewed a little basket as a going away present for her bus driver.  When she got an American Girl doll for her 8th birthday she walked around in a daze for two days, proclaiming over and over, "I know I'm dreaming. This can't be real.  Am I dreaming?"

Clara is hilarious.  She is unique. She is loving and more than anything, she is intense in her bright love for others, bringing the Light of Christ into every interaction. There are no strangers to Clara because they always become her friend.  She loves everyone.

I feel so lucky to be her Mom and to get to share this special day with my Clara Lucille.

Would You Like Some Super Glue?

The other day I took my kids to Hollywood Connection to take advantage, yet again, of our Passes of All Passes.  Those things have been awesome!  Anyway, I didn't have my husband with me, so I had to stay with the 3 year old and had some time to sit around on my pockets while she played in the indoor play structure.  I didn't have a book with me, so I had the chance to observe the people around me.

I like watching people.

I know, that's kind of creepy.

So, I noticed that a TON of people were glued to their cell phones.  GLUED!

I actually took notes.

4 out of 6 parents on the Merry-Go-Round were playing on their phone instead of enjoying the ride or even paying attention to their small child.

Roughly 50% of the people who walked by had a phone in their hand.

75% of the parents in the playland were glued to their screen.  I was the 25%. I was glued to staring at them while they spoke to their kids without even looking up.

We could really save some muscles just by super gluing everybody's phone to his/her hand.  Even when they weren't using them, people had their phones in their hands.  Um, are we afraid of looking fat from phone bulge in our pockets?

I don't know.

What I do know is that I am sometimes guilty of this too, although not usually with my phone. My phone doesn't have internet or any games.

But, my Kindle Fire can be just as distracting.  It's easy to be stupid while using electronics.  The computer lures me away too.  Sometimes I wonder if my kids will remember all of my parenting happening from the computer chair.  I hope not.

Hey, I don't have a problem with a parent playing games or facebooking while the children climb on the slides, but doing it on the merry go round seemed a little extreme.

Maybe these devices are already superglued?

Maybe people feel naked without them?

Maybe we don't even need buildings to go to to entertain ourselves if we can be completely satisfied with a little magical black box.    We can just interact with other people who aren't really with us, and ignore the really short ones that live in our houses.

Hmm.  Maybe that is a bad plan.

It was scary, you guys.  I know how easy it would be for me to become one of those parents.  I've been known to have my nose in a book and not even hear what my daughter was asking me.

We need to run screaming away from these phones!  Put them down!  Put them in a purse, or in your pocket, or leave it in your car, and pay attention to the people that you are hanging out with.  Okay, I'm almost done with my lecture.

We already have people walking around looking like the Borg with Bluetooth ear attachments,  apparently talking to someone, but looking like a nutcase. Will we get our phone screens implanted on the backs of our hands next?  I'm sorry. It's just creepy.  It's a lot creepier than me watching the people with their eyes glued to their phones instead of watching the joy on the face of their little one.

Okay, I'm getting off this computer right now to go pay attention to my kids.

Math, my Precious!

I need to tell this story and you need to hear it!  Well, you need to hear it if you like math, and justice, and the consumer winning in the end.  I really tried to make this a facebook post, but there is just too much inside of me bursting to get out, so I had to blog.  I love this blog!

Okay, so if you like math, keep reading. This is going to involve addition, subtraction, percentages, and frustration.

I went to Joann's today to get some "needed" supplies for Amy's massive 3D art Reflections creation. I can't tell you what it is yet in case your child reads this and copies her idea and they end up competing against each other later.  Yes, I am psycho.  Amy ran out of white Sculpey clay and our craft paint was running low.

We had a coupon for 20% off our entire purchase, including sale items.  Sculpey was 50% off.  JACKPOT!  Alright, I'm a little bit obsessed with Sculpey, but it's FREAKING AWESOME.  Okay?  Okay.  Back to my story.

I picked up 6 blocks of 2 ounce Sculpey, regular price $2.29 on sale for $1.14.  I also grabbed a one pound brick of white, regular price $16.99, on sale for $8.49.  And I was going to get 20% extra off of these prices.  I know, it's so awesome!

Next we headed over to Clearance and found a down alternative comforter for Amy for $14.97.  We didn't need it, but she convinced me she would suffer hypothermia without it.

We grabbed 7 pieces of 34 cent felt for a special project and headed over to the paint.

The craft paint came in 2 oz. bottles for $.69 or 8 oz. bottles for $2.49.  Now, if you are still reading this, you like math, and you know that it was a better deal to buy the larger paint. What you didn't know is that our craft paint supply has dwindled into a pathetic stash of gloppy gloop. We needed to completely restock. So, I got red, yellow, blue, orange, green, gold, black, white, purple, pink, silver, and brown in the 8 oz size and a couple extra smaller shades of green.

I knew this would all be expensive, but remember the 20% extra off. So, it shouldn't have been at all like my typical $100 Walmart grocery trips. Yes, I shop at Walmart. Judge me when you are a stay at home Mom with 6 kids and a high mortgage.

I went the the checkout.  The bill went up and up and up, all the way up to $100! What?  "Oh, crud!" I thought, "I didn't mean to spend that much on craft supplies."  But, it went down to $80 with the coupon and then Amy paid for $7 worth with a gift card.  So, I got away with paying $74.

Something still didn't feel right.

I looked at my receipt and noticed that I got charged twice for the one pound Sculpey.  I told the cashier and she said she would fix it when she finished with the next customer.  While I waited, I noticed that the black and yellow paint containers both rang up at $4.99.  Woa Nelly! Somebody stop these runaway money horses!

I told the cashier and she took off the extra Sculpey and the black and yellow paint. The black price was correct because I had accidentally picked up glossy, so I just returned it. Apparently, it costs twice as much to be shiny.  The yellow paint was ringing up incorrectly since it wasn't glossy. She said she would fix it.  She told me a number, which seemed too low, but I was so dang confused at this point that I just said okay.  I sent Amy to grab some small black paint and I repurchased the yellow with the black, paid a few bucks and left.

We drove home.  My brain started turning.

FLIBBERTYGIBBIT!

I had been overcharged for the one pound brick of Sculpey.  It didn't ring up at 50% off!  And I didn't notice until I was on my way home. So, I came home and studied my receipt. That's when I noticed that, while the cashier took the black paint back, she didn't give me my money back for it.

GRRRR!

Okay, so the first time I got money back it was $18.80.

I went back to the store tonight and told the whole long confusing story.  Thankfully, with my 3,245 receipts, or maybe just 3 receipts, the lady believed me.  She credited me for the black paint and for the discount that should have come off of the Sculpey.  I was refunded an additional $11.52 and I came home victorious!

In total, I was overcharged $30.32, which is a heck of a lot of money for a $74.10 bill.

The morals of the story are:

1. Always,.always, always, check you receipts!

2. Don't be fooled by your children proclaiming that they won't use Math as grownups.  If they don't use it, it's going to cost them.

3. Be nice and be smart, and you can usually get what you deserve.