No Purchase Necessary

I have a habit of signing up for freebies, sweepstakes, frequent customer cards, etc.  The result is mainly an awful lot of junk mail and junk email that I send directly to my spam folder.  However, this month, July, has made all of that junk mail/email worth it.  Why?  Well, let me tell you.

As my long-time fans are well aware, July is the month of my birth – which is entirely appropriate …

Ex. A – July’s birthstone is the Ruby and according to Proverbs 8:11 – “wisdom is far more valuable than rubies..” (NLT) … And I am nothing if not a smart cookie (although my cookie probably contains its fair share of nuts).

Ex. B – my Zodiac sign is Cancer the Crab.  I don’t follow horoscopes and such and, while I am usually a pretty happy person, I’ve been known to have crabby moments. 

Ex. C – also regarding Crabs – I adore them… especially the cartoon variety! (I know that isn’t a very strong reason and should be party of Ex. B, but I needed a third one and couldn't think of one and I wanted to be able to use both the Lucy pic and the crab cartoon.)

Now, I’ve long said that the ONLY good thing about summer in general, and July in particular, is my origin.  Otherwise, since I’m not longer a student who has a summer break to look forward to, the calendar might as well go straight from May to October.  I would say June to September, but we can have some pretty hot weather even in those months and Rose doesn’t like the heat.

Any who, it started about two weeks ago, when I received a postcard in the mail from Shoe Carnival wishing me a Happy Birthday and containing a coupon good for $5 off on any purchase in the month of July. 

Then I received another postcard – we aren’t sure how or why I received it, but I must’ve signed up for something somewhere, they had my correct birth month – from three local restaurants (Wolf’s Bar-B-Q, Acropolis, and Highland Pizza something I’d never heard of) wishing me Happy Birthday and containing coupons for each restaurant good for a free meal at each.

Last weekend, Mom and I knocked out the Wolf’s coupon after going to see the Terminator movie (more on that in another blog, possibly).  Then on Sunday, after church, we invited Aunt Marilee and our “adopted family member for the summer or until her mother returns from Iowa and she’s no longer an orphan” Amy to join us at the Apocalypse.  It just so happened that the coupons said that if I (the birthday girl) brought three or more of my friends with me, we’d get a free appetizer!  

Meanwhile, an email from Kohl's - $10 off my next purchase!   And that was on top of my $30 in Kohl's bucks and $10 Kohl's Rewards!  Which was nice, since I was on the lookout for some new work clothes.  

Just today, I printed out coupons from Dairy Queen (buy one get one Blizzards - will come in handy for my traditional birthday Blizzard); O'Charley's (free piece of pie); and Schnucks (free cookie from the bakery).

I also received an email from the Ahh Spa, the place where Jennifer and I go for our birthday massages - her birthday is the day before mine, so instead of exchanging gifts, we celebrate by going out to eat and then going and getting massages.  From them, I get a free aromatherapy foot scrub with the purchase of my massage.  Oddly enough, poor Jennifer doesn't receive these emails, even though she has signed up.  Fortunately, when we make the appointments, she points out that it's her birthday too and why didn't she receive the same email? and she gets the freebie too. 

Anyway, the lesson of this story is that I'm having a great birthday so far!