Coupons, Part 1

我一直都知道有coupon這東西。小時候住溫哥華時,也偶而會在雜誌裏發現一、二張coupons,不過都沒有機會用到。直到在費城讀書時才開始用coupon。搬到加州後更是不得了,我發現有些 grocery stores 竟然有double coupon,甚至於有triple coupons。也就是說一張 $1 的 coupon 竟然可以抵 $2(double coupon)或 $3(triple coupon)。想當年我常常到 Von's 和 Ralph's 買了一車子的食物及日用品都花不到$10,很多東西都是免費的,只要付稅就好了。 好景不常,現在已經沒有那麼便宜的事了。現在 Von's 只能一次用一種產品的 coupon,最多只能抵到 coupon 的面值。 Ralph's是還可以 double coupon,不過最多只能抵到$1。也就是說 $0.50 的 coupon 是可以抵到$1,不過 $0.75 以上的 coupon 就只能抵到 $1,除非 coupon 的面值是多於$1。

我常覺得 coupon 這麼好的某西常常被人當做垃圾丟棄。基本上是把錢/cash 丟掉。在這不景氣的環境裏,我們能省就省,能多用 coupon 是件好事。 在美國, coupons 通常是夾在星期天的報紙 Sunday paper 裏,因此星期天報紙的價錢也比較貴。不過如果你有訂報的話,往往一星期的訂報費會比單買星期天的報紙便宜。基本上,我的朋友都知道我有收集 coupons 的習慣,所以朋友們自己都會把報紙看完後,把 coupons 送給我。我還在網路上聽說有些人會到社區裏的 recycling center 找一些人家不要的 Sunday paper 裏的 coupons.

有機會到 Couponmom 的網站看一下用 coupon 買的東西有多便宜。

http://www.couponmom.com/

Click on 左邊的 "Grocery Deals by State" ,不過你得先登入會員。 這是個免費的服務網站。它幫我省了不少時間與金錢!

安美汀 和牙齒變色 Augmentin (amoxicillin + clavulanic acid) and brown teeth stains

It happened again! My 9YO daughter was prescribed liquid Augmentin for her pneumonia. From my experience with Augmentin, this drug causes severe staining to the teeth. When I first brought this to the attention of my daughter's dentist and pediatrician when she was 4, no one believed me. Everyone just assumed that it was poor teeth-brushing on my part. It's hard to convince people that the brown teeth stains have nothing to do with poor dental hygiene. I called up the maker of Augmentin and did research on the internet, but I couldn't find a remedy for this brown stain. Luckily, it was time for my daughter's bi-annual teeth cleaning, and afterwards, her teeth becomes sparkling white again. I was quite relieved realizing that the brown stains caused by Augmentin are only surface stains. But I just wish parents are warned about this when they receive the drug from the pharmacist.

Over the years, I have formulated a way to minimize the brown stains caused by the intake of liquid Augmentin.

1. I make sure my child doesn't take Augmentin right before bed time;
2. She has to drink and rinse out her mouth after she takes Augmentin;
3. She must brush her teeth with toothpastes that has whitening formula;
4. I also arrange to have her teeth cleaned as early as our dental insurance policy will allow.

We are lucky that we have a dental insurance policy that allows for free teeth cleaning twice a year. Imagine families that have no dental insurance, how can they afford to get their children's teeth professionally cleaned after taking Augmentin?!

Next time, if my children have infections which require the treatment of Augmentin, I'm going to ask for the drug in pill form.

晚上煮什麼好呢? What's for Dinner?

我每天最煩腦的事就是要想晚上煮什麼菜給先生及小朋友吃。今天也不例外。前幾天醃了雪裡紅(雪菜),今天不煮不行了。想想兒子會吃豆乾, 所以就決定炒一盤雪菜豆乾。這盤菜還蠻下飯的。

雪菜豆乾

材料：
雪菜一把（大約四、五片)、豆乾４塊、蒜頭一大粒、辣椒適量、油。

做法：
雪菜洗淨，擰乾水份，切丁。
豆乾切丁
蒜頭切末
辣椒切末（小朋友不吃辣,　所以沒有放辣椒）

起鍋倒入油，小火爆香蒜末，加入雪菜炒香，加入豆乾炒至沒有水份，雪菜香味飄出既可。

註:　前提之下那雪菜要夠鹹, 要不然在炒豆乾時必需要再加點鹽 。

購買地點:　　Hannam Market　韓國超巿

雪裡紅 $0.99/lb.
豆乾 $2.29 for a package of 4 squares (４塊)

志願服務精神 Volunteerism

住在美國最讓我感動的事是美國人的志願服務精神(Volunteerism)。 做父母的除了需要到孩子的學校做免費服務之外,有些家長也參於很多社區服務,包括男女童子軍 (Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America),少棒連盟 (Little League) 以及美國青少年足球連盟 (AYSO-American Youth Soccer Organization)。 這一切的活動與教學全靠有經驗的家長推動及執行。

AYSO (The American Youth Soccer Organization) http://soccer.org/home.aspx
Little League http://www.littleleague.org/Little_League_Online.htm
Girl Scouts of the USA http://www.girlscouts.org/program/journeys/your_world/default.asp
Boys Scouts of America http://www.scouting.org/

我九歲的女兒目前是個 Girl Scout Junior。她二年級時加入女童子軍,從Brownies 開始。她的團長及副團長全是她同學的媽媽。如果沒有這幾位媽媽專心致力的安排所有的活動及連絡,我想我也不會讓我的女兒參加女童子軍。女兒的課餘時間有限,所以她的課外活動必需要對她的成長過程有所幫助。

在美國,小男孩最重要的社交活動就是參與球隊連盟。足球是從四歲就開始,少棒是從T-ball 隊 (幼稚園大班或六歲) 開始打。兒子的教練(或副教練)全是他同學的爸爸或媽媽。因為球隊連盟要求家長一定要volunteer,害我老公都不大好意思不參與兒子的球隊活動。還好他很會考試,所以他就去上課考了個小孩足球裁判員的資格。去年當兒子的球隊要比賽時,我老公就得上場做裁判,非常辛苦。我呢? 我就做所謂的Team Mom。有雜事就找我。

通常如果男孩子對體育沒興趣的話,他在美國這個社會就會顯得比較格格不入。我很慶幸我兒子的運動神經很好, 在學校也比較容易交到朋友, 不會被其它小朋友取笑或欺負。因為兒子才一年級, 功課幾乎沒有, 因此我也讓他參加男童子軍。最主要的原因也是因為他的 Den Leader 是一位非常有奉獻精神的媽媽。我兒子目前屬於男童子軍的老虎隊 (Tiger Cub Scouts)。

美國人的志願服務精神(Volunteerism)真的讓我大開眼界。

I have always admired the volunteer spirit of Americans. When I was growing up in Canada, I didn't see any parents volunteering at my schools. Maybe it's the sign of the times--school funding had been reduced drastically by the government, so parents had to step in and help out the teachers any way they can. I do see that as the kids get older, the opportunity to volunteer in the classrooms decreases, but parents continue to volunteer at school, either in the PTA or other fundraising activities. As for myself, I volunteer in my kids' classrooms once a month. I would do more, but other parents have signed up as well, so we take turns. I am also known as the Box Tops lady at our school. Kids cut off Box Tops and bring them to school. I then collect, count, and mail the Box Tops to General Mills. A few months later, General Mills will send a check to our school. Each Box Top is worth 10 cents to our school. Each year, our school earned about $1,000-$2,000 from this fundraising effort alone.

Another form of volunteerism that I come across daily is the selfless dedication of parents to their kids' extra-curricular activities--namely sports organizations and scouting. Both my kids are involved in scouting. If it were not for the dedication and hard work of the parents (scout leaders) involved, I would not be bothered with scouting. Our scout leaders make participating in scouting activities an easy thing. Neither my husband and I are the outdoorsy type, so the opportunity to expose our kids to outdoor activities is very valuable to us.

Each Saturday from September to December, my son participates in our local AYSO league's soccer games. Then from January to February, he does winter soccer, also sponsored by the AYSO. Other boys often choose to do basketball or other sports while waiting for Baseball's Little League to start in March. So from March to June, my son is involved in the local Little League games. There is usually a game Saturday morning and a practice session with his teammates one hour a week, to be determined by his coaches. Needless to say, all of the coaches and referees of the Little League teams and the AYSO teams are volunteers as well. This is how American passes on their values and heritage to their children. When these children grow up, they will also volunteer in their children's schools or teams. This is a wonderful, selfless thing to be able to pass down from generation to generation.

Target 90% off on all Valentine's items!

Run! Valentine's stuff is 90% off at Target today! All the RED dot items in the "dollar section" of the store are $0.25 (75% off).

一早因為要帶兒子去參加他每星期六的足球賽,我無法八點就準時到 Target 報到、血拼。我大概快十二點才到 Target。 Valentine's 情人節的東西已經所剩無幾了。不過店裏還剩下不少一盒盒的情人節小卡片(小孩子送朋友的)。有的是一盒32張裝,有的是一盒27 張裝。通通都是每盒 $0.29 (原價:$2.99)。我竟然買了十二盒 (有Spiderman, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Extreme Sports, Regular Sports, 以及Bratz Dolls)! 店裏還剩了很多 Camp Rock, Hannah Montana, 和 High School Musical 的小卡片。其實我九歲的女兒對Camp Rock, Hannah Montana, 和 High School Musical 的一切都很欣賞,不過她的 同學對於這些“品牌”都很看不起,她們認為這些都是小女生喜歡的東西。因此我的女兒也只能默默的喜歡。她更不可能要我買這些小卡片送她的同學。當然我就沒買。

一個多小時後, 我花了五十幾塊錢, 很開心的走出 Target。只有六塊錢是花在 Valentine's 的東西上面。我順便買了一條牛仔褲給女兒和三瓶 Aveeno Anti-Wrinkle Cream 乳霜 (每瓶比原價少了五元) 。

Target 是美國的購物天堂! Target's Valentine's Clearance

I thought for sure, Target will mark down their Valentine's merchandise further today, but it looks like 90% off will be tomorrow. At least we know these items are 75% off now. Even the Dollar Section in the Target stores has all their RED dot items (most likely Valentine's-related items) marked down to 50% off.

I was at my closest Target store last week and there wasn't a lot of useful Valentine's Day merchandise left on the shelves. I believe Target has been trimming its inventory, so there are not many things left for markdowns.

In examining what exactly do I need from the Target's Valentine's clearances, I realized that as my kids get older, the need for Valentine's boxed cards diminishes. I am looking for cute Valentine's t-shirts for my daughter (and maybe for my son too), but I think girls are more into the Valentine's theme than boys.

I have also tried to curtail buying more than I need at Target (even if the item is dirt cheap), thus avoid making my house another de facto Target warehouse. I have stopped anticipating what I will need a year (or two) down the road.

It's still hard to NOT making the pilgrimage to Target when I know the 90% off is in full swing.

Here is the general markdown schedule for Target (it does vary store to store):

YEAR-ROUND:

Monday -- Infants department, Kids clothing and Electronics (maybe food also)

Tuesday -- Women's clothing, Domestics

Wednesday -- Men's clothing, Garden, Toys, Health and Beauty

Thursday -- Lingerie, Shoes, Housewares, Sporting Goods, Luggage

Friday -- Cosmetics, Hardware, Auto, Home Improvement and Jewelry

HOLIDAYS:

All holidays except Christmas follow the 3-3-2 rule:

The first 3 days after the holiday are 50% off.
The next 3 days are 75% off.
The next 2 days are 90%.
After that it goes to salvage.

Valentines 3-3-2

Easter 3-3-2

4th of July 3-3-2 (since it's always on July 4, the schedule stays the same)
July 5 = 50% off
July 8 = 75% off
July 10 = 90% off

Halloween(since it's always on Oct. 31, the schedule stays the same)

Nov 1st = 50% off
Nov 4th = 75% off
Nov 7th = 90% off

Thanksgiving 3-3-2

肺炎 Pneumonia

It's hard to start a brand new blog, and the first post no less, with such an inauspicious subject. The fact is that my 9 year-old daughter caught a flu bug in school which catapulted into pneumonia. She started with fever last Thursday, then she developed a sore throat, and then coughs. I am usually able to control my children's fever with Tylenol (Acetaminophen) and/or Advil/Motrin (Ibuprofen). On this occasion, I was able to control my daughter's fever with a combination of Tylenol and Advil every 4-6 hours. I do pay a lot of attention to the right dosage to give her. Since she's old enough to swallow pills (she actually prefers it), I would break an adult pill (500 mg) in half and have her swallow it.

Acetaminophen dosage:
http://www.tylenol.com/page.jhtml?id=tylenol/children/subchild.inc

Ibuprofen dosage:
http://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?id=2293

I usually don't have a habit of bringing my children to see a doctor as soon as they get sick, but I'm fully aware at what point I would need to bring them in.

Monday was a federal holiday and my daughter developed a nasty cough and her fever was still there. When she coughed all night Monday (no cough medication was able to alleviate her cough), I decided to take her in to see her pediatrician.

Her regular pediatrician was not available so we saw an experience retired doctor who was there to help out. Anyways, although he wasn't able to hear the telltale sign of pneumonia on his stethoscope, he ordered an X-ray on her chest. Soon we heard the verdict. She has consolidated pneumonia! I wish I had my laptop with me so I can look it up. In any case, my daughter was getting weaker by the minute. I asked my husband to come to the doctor's office after work, so he can carry my daughter around. The doctor recommended an injection of Rocephin and 2 types of antibiotics (Zithromax and Augmentin) for treatment.

Her doctor's explanation for so many antibiotics was that he was not sure which strain of bacteria caused her consolidated pneumonia. The usually strain is easier to treat, but since her place of infection in her lung is low on her back next to the heart, it was not possible to extract a sample of her infection and test it. He suspects that she has the stronger pneumonia strain--pneumococcal which is prevalent in hospitals. That's his reasoning for giving her the Rocephin shot which equals to giving her antibiotics intravenously.

I signed the paper for the Rocephin injection and waited out to see if she had any allergic reaction to it after injection. After 30 minutes of waiting, she seemed better (except for the pain on her thigh where the needle went in--not her favorite experience!). It's obvious that the drug worked.

Four hours later, we were home and she got to rest some more. I went on-line to look up consolidated pneumonia. Meanwhile, my sister and her husband, both physicians in Canada, was shocked with the heavy-handiness of the doctor prescribing so many (and strong) antibiotics without knowing exactly what type of pneumonia bacteria she had.

This is when I realized that there is no right or wrong answers and even doctors in family practice can vary quite a bit in terms of treatments for the same disease.

As she recovers, I am grateful that during this course of treatment, nothing out of the ordinary happened to my daughter. Just last week, I read a Taiwan news article about a 10 year-old girl who died from the results of complications from a flu/cold after only 4 days. That story was at the back of my mind when I brought my daughter in to see her doctor yesterday.