TERRIFIC TUESDAY AND STRANGE MICHAEL JACKSON STORY

Wow! I woke up this morning way before the birds (4AM!), and clicked on my trusty computer...and read this: "Coroner rules Jackson’s death a homicide..." All I can say is, "WHAT?" After reading through the article, it appears that meds used to help MJ with his insomnia are what contributed to his death. That is sad, just sad. This is definitely one case that I will be following, because I want to see if his doctor is really held accountable for this, or if it'll just eventually be ruled accidental. Just another strange twist in the strange life of Michael....

It got me thinking about insomnia, though, and how sleeping, (or the lack of), really affects our total overall health. For those who do not have this problem, sleeping through the night is no big deal, but for those who are affected by this, getting 7-8 hours of non-stop sleep is like winning the lottery....no words can describe the glorious feeling!!

So, now I am curious.....do any of you suffer from insomnia, and, if so, what are your tried-and-true remedies to rectify the situation?? My tips are:

• Definitely don't drink caffeine after 1:00 p.m. Trust me on this one; I found out the HARD WAY that Dr. Pepper at suppertime is NOT a good idea!
  
  
• Go to bed at the same time every night, if possible.
  
  
• Make sure the bedroom is not too hot....I know, it is summertime, and if you are like me, you are trying not to run the A/C. I have a fan by my bed, and the gentle breeze (and the hum of the fan) really helps to relax me.
  


• Finally, don't exercise too strenuously before bedtime. If I am feeling overwhelmed or stressed out (which happens often with teens! LOL), I just take a 10-15 minute stroll around the neighborhood or through the cemetery across the road, and when I come back inside, I am very relaxed. The fresh air really helps me sleep better.

Today, the kids get out of school an hour earlier, instead of two hours earlier yesterday. This will give me a little more time to get to my local grocery store and take advantage of their Tombstone pizza deal: They are on sale 4/$10, and you get a register coupon that prints for $3.00 off on your next purchase. So, that means the pizzas are really 4/$7. When my hubby came back from the store on Saturday, and showed me this, I was ALL KINDS OF EXCITED! He started laughing and said that the cashier at the store, who knows me and how I LOVE to coupon, told him that I would be happy! And, happy I am! :)

Have a Terrific Tuesday everyone!

**A.Marie**

MONEY MISSION MONDAY MADNESS - - AS USUAL!

Good Morning! I hope that all of you had a very restful weekend, and are ready to "do the deals" this week! I am actually planning on going to Wal-Mart and Walgreens today, in the BIG town that is next to my SMALL town; I really don't want to drive there, but I need to get stocked up on groceries! So, between feeding the fur-babies and the human "babies," and making sure that everyone leaves the house in one piece, I'm almost wore out!!

Before I start rambling on about the deals, I want to give a Big Money Mission Woo-Hoo to my latest follower, Willa (#18!), over at fickle minded. I found her while "doing the drop" with Entrecard, and I am glad that I did! She has got such a neat blog; it is filled with all sorts of cool gadget-y things. Check out my sidebar... I got my latest gadget from her blog!

To start off the great deals, click on this link: kraft foods.com. It brings up a rebate form that you can send away for a utility bill rebate, depending on how many Tombstone pizzas you purchase. There were Tombstone pizza coupons that I printed off of coupons.com last week, so I am definitely going to check this out!

Also, as I was cruising through bloggy world, I found this great post by The Good Deal Gal: *Possible* FREE DiGiornio Flatebread Melt on May 18th. You'll want to check this out as soon as you can, because it only runs through today (MONDAY). A big thanks to the Good Deal Gal for this awesome post!! **It is 6:03am and my submission went through. So, there is still time. But hurry, it is only for the first 100,000!**

Then, when I was signing up for samples on the Wal-Mart site, I found out about the FREE ICE CREAM GIVEAWAY!! Since I knew I had also just read this somewhere, on someone's blog, I started looking and sure enough, I found it!
Get free Ice Cream at Walmart on May 30th, 2009 from 11am-4pm. There are 4 Ice Cream samples to choose from including: a 1.57 fl oz Dibs Snack Bag, a 2.4 fl oz Blue Bunny Aspen Frozen Yogurt Granola Bar, or a 4 fl oz. Ben and Jerry's Flipped Out Cup! Find the closest participating Walmart near you! Thanks to Brandie at free sample freak for the awesome post! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*WHOOP...WHOOP...WHOOP...I want to interrupt my regularly scheduled Monday Madness...which, by the way, is still going on.....long story.... to give a Big WOO-HOO Welcome to Desiree over at three plus 2. I am sooooo excited! I just found her blog today, and I was thrilled to see that she has twin girls. My faithful bloggy readers and friends know that I also have a twin sister, so Desiree is especially special to me already!! Any Mom who can raise twins is a SuperWoman in my eye!! I was a Nanny for twin baby boys for a year before I got married. I know the work and blessings that are involved! I'd do it all over again, though. I named my son after one of the twins!! So, cruise on over there and check out her blog! :)