Tomorrow is my birthday--the Up and the Down

I don't know whether to start this post on the Up or the Down. Hmmm. Using the philosophy to always leave the reader/viewer smiling, I'll start with the Down.

And it's not really a big Down. I was born on my Dad's 29th birthday. He died at the age of 90 last September so this is the first time in my life I'll not be able to celebrate with him. Not that celebrating would have meant anything to him in the last years of his life because he had Alzheimer's, but it meant something to me.

Like the first birthday I celebrated after Mother died. She had always called me on the minute I was born, 9:26 AM. Always. I really missed that phone call the first year and I'll miss knowing Daddy is still around when tomorrow comes, too.

Enough Down.

Up: I have managed to gleefully put my Soft Surroundings, Half-Price Books, Chico's, and Coldwater Creek coupons to good use. Well, good in my opinion.

My merry month

Tis my birthday month. Also my anniversary. August is Big Time for me.

How big? (Not counting numbers here.) All those companies I've shared my birthday date with are seeking to entice me back in with offers of discounts. The only problem? I'll never use them all.

Case in point: The ones that expire ON my birthday. That's less than two weeks from now for me to travel 60 miles for a half-off dinner? Granted, it's a nice place, but it won't happen. Perhaps if they'd given me to the end of the month like the chain with the "select club." Only problem? When we signed up for this club in another city while on vacation, there were multiple restaurant choices in that city. Here? Sixty miles away and a chain we consider to be ho-hum. Not the most interesting of their repertoire.

On the retail side of things, I'll use the 15% off at Half-Price Books, good for my entire purchase sometime this month. Also, I'll bop into Chico's. I don't have the card yet, but it's usually $10 off, no minimum. Pappagallo offers me 20% off a regularly priced item (exclusions apply), but I've only been in there once and I'm not familiar enough with the stock to say for certain I'll use it. But it is across the way from Coldwater Creek and I have $20 off there. It's also their Farewell to Summer Sale, so I'll probably find time to hop in.

Online, there's Soft Surroundings. Have a real weakness here. $20 off $75, which isn't hard to do. Good until the end of the month, but why wait? We August girls celebrate for the entire month, and I'm starting at Soft Surroundings as soon as I publish this.